Maharashtra: Know What Is Allowed, Not Allowed In Lockdown From April 5 To 30

Mubarak Ansari

Pune, 4 April 2021: The Maharashtra state cabinet today decided to impose strict restrictions to curb the rapid rise in corona infection. The restrictions will be implemented from 8 pm on Monday, 5th April to 30th April. 

According to Chief Minister’s office, while imposing these restrictions, on the one hand, care has been taken not to affect the state’s economic cycle and not to harass the workers and labourers, and emphasis has been laid on closing crowded places. Agricultural work, public and private transport will continue smoothly but private offices, restaurants, cinemas, crowded places will remain closed. It was also decided to impose a two-day complete lockdown from Friday night to Monday morning.

After the decision, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealed to all to co-operate in strict adherence to the restrictions and said that he had also spoken to the Opposition parties who have supported the government’s decision. 

These restrictions will henceforth be called ‘Break the Chain’ instead of ‘Mission Begin Again’, stated a press release from the state government. 

Agricultural work: Agriculture and agricultural activities, transportation of food grains and agricultural commodities will continue as usual. 

Curfew at night, ban on gathering during the day: Section 144 will be implemented in the state. From 7 am to 8 pm, no more than 5 people will be allowed to gather or travel together. On Weekdays, from 8 pm to 7 am there will night curfew. Also from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday, there will be complete lockdown (curfew) and no one will be allowed to leave home without a valid reason or permission. Medical and other essential services will be excluded from this. 

Essential Services include the following:

 a. Hospitals, diagnostic centers, Clinics, Medical insurance offices, Pharmacies, Pharmaceutical companies, other medical and health services.

b. Groceries, Vegetables Shops, dairies, bakeries, confectionaries, food shops.

c. Public transport – trains, Taxis, Autorickshaws and public buses.

d. Services related to functioning of offices of Diplomats of various countries

e. Pre-monsoon activities by local authorities

f. All Public Services by local authorities.

g. ‘Transport of Goods

h. Agriculture related services

i. E-commerce

j. Accredited Media

k. Services designated essential service by local disaster management authority

Outdoor activity:  

a) All beaches/ gardens/ public grounds to remain closed from 8 PM to 7 AM on weekdays and from 8 PM Friday to 7 AM Monday.

b) Between 7 AM to 8 PM on Monday to Friday, visitors to follow strictly Covid Appropriate Behaviour.

c) Local authorities to ensure that such places are closely supervised and in case of crowding occurring in such locations to a point where the local authorities feel that it behaviour of visitors is not disciplined and may lead to transmission/ spread of the COVID-19 virus, then they may close down the same.

Shops, Markets and Malls: All shops, markets and malls to remain closed throughout the day except for essential services.

a. Essential services shops to operate while ensuring social distancing between customers in the shop premises. Extra customers to be kept waiting with adequate social distancing with markings wherever possible.

b. Essential shops owners and person working at all shops to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of Government of India (GOI). All shops are advised to follow safety measures like interaction with customers through transparent glass or other material shields, electronic payment etc.

c. All shop owners that are closed for now are advised to get all persons working with them to get vaccinated as per criteria of GOI as well as prepare with measures like like interaction with customers through a transparent glass or other material shields, electronic payment etc. so that government can expedite reopening of the same without fear of spread. 

Public Transport will be fully operational with the following restrictions:

Auto Rickshaw – Driver + 2 passengers only

Taxi (4 wheelers) – Driver + 50% vehicle capacity as per RTO

Bus – Full seating occupancy as per RTO passing. However, no standing passengers will be allowed.

All persons using public transport to compulsorily wear a mask in a proper manner barring which fine of Rs 500 will be imposed on the offenders.

In 4 wheeler taxi, if any one person is not wearing a mask, the offender and the driver of the taxi will be fined an amount of Rs 500 each. 

All vehicles to be sanitized after every trip.

All public transport – drivers and other staff coming into contact with the public to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of GOI and till vaccinated completely to carry negative corona result certificate valid upto 15 days. This rule will come into effect from 10th April 2021. For taxis and autos, however, if the driver isolates himself or herself through a plastic sheet or otherwise he or she may be exempted from this requirement.

In case if any of the above are found to be without a negative RTPCR Certificate/ without being vaccinated as above, a fine of Rs 1000 will be levied.

In the case of out-station trains, railway authorities must ensure that there are no standing passengers in the general compartment and all passengers use masks.

Fine of Rs 500 to be levied in all trains for non-use of masks.

Offices: All Private offices to remain closed except for the following

a. Cooperative, PSU and Private Banks

b. BSE/ NSE

c. Electric Supply related Companies

d. Telecom Service Providers

e. Insurance/ Mediclaim Companies

f. Pharmaceutical company offices needed for management of production distribution                                                   

• Local disaster management authorities may add exceptions if needed
• Government offices to function with 50% attendance except those required for the response to Covid19 pandemic wherein they will work with 100% strength as per the decision of the HOD of the department office
• All government offices, as well as government companies related to electricity, water and banking and other financial services, shall remain functional with full capacity
• In the case of Government offices as well as government companies, all meetings with anyone apart from the office staff who is present on the same campus must only be conducted online.
• No visitors to be allowed in Government offices as well as government companies.
• Offices to start e-visitor system at the earliest.
• For government offices, in case of an exceptional circumstance, the HOD may be allowed to issue pass for visitors subject to them having a negative RTPCR report of within 48 hours on entry into the office.
• For both private and government offices, to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of GOI, so that government may reopen expeditiously offices without fear of spread or acceleration of Covid19.

Private Transport: Private Vehicles including private buses can ply normally from 7 AM to 8 PM on Monday to Friday and for the purposes of emergency or essential services for rest of the period (8 PM to 7 AM on weekdays and 8 PM on Friday to 7 AM on Monday).

Private buses, in addition will be subjected to the following:

a. To ply with only seating capacity. There should be no standing passengers ever.

b. Staff must get vaccinated as per GOI criteria and till vaccinated, all the staff must have a valid negative RT-PCR test result certificate valid till 15 days. This rule shall operate from 10th April 2021  

Recreation and Entertainment

• Cinema halls to remain closed
• Drama theatres and auditoriums to remain closed
• Amusement Parks/ Arcades/ Video Game Parlours to remain closed
• Water Parks to remain closed
• Clubs, Swimming Pools, Gyms and Sports Complexes to remain closed
• All persons connected with these establishments should get vaccinated at the earliest, as per GOI guidelines so that Reopening of these may be achieved at the earliest without fear of spread or acceleration of Covid19

Shooting for Films/ Serials/ Advertisement to be allowed subject to

a. Generally shooting of scenes with large number of artists to be avoided.

b. All staff engaged as well as artists to carry negative RT-PCR test certificate Valid for 15 days. This order will operate from 10th April 2021

In case a Quarantine Bubble maybe created for the artists and staff engaged, they may be allowed by concerned disaster management authority with any number provided before entry into the bubble negative RTPCR test has been conducted on each one.

 Restaurants, Bars, Hotels

a) All Restaurants and bars to remain closed, except for those inside the campus and integral parts of hotels.

b) Take away orders, parcels and home delivery services to be allowed between 7 AM to 8 PM from Monday to Friday. On weekends only home delivery services shall be allowed between 7 AM to 8 PM and there shall be no Visiting any restaurant or bar for ordering purposes or pickup.

c) Restaurants and bars inside hotels are to be open only for in-house guests. In no circumstance should outside guests be allowed. For outsiders, they will follow the same restrictions as any other restaurant and bar as mentioned above.

d) All personnel belonging to home delivery services to be vaccinated at the earliest as per GOI guidelines. However, in case the person is not vaccinated, he will have to carry a negative RTPCR report which will be valid till 15 days. This rule will be applicable from 10th April 2021.

e) Without negative RTPCR Certificate/ without being vaccinated as above, post 10th April 2021 a fine of Rs 1000 will be levied on the offender and fine of Rs 10,000 will be levied on the establishment. Repeated offenders may be withdrawn licenses or permissions for operations till notification for COVID19 epidemic remains in force.

f) All staff that may work in these restaurants and bars are advised to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per GOI guidelines, so that reopening of these may be expedited.

 Religious Places of Worship

a) Religious Places of Worship to remain closed.

b) All the personnel engaged in the service of the place of worship shall continue to perform their duties but no outside visitor shall be allowed.

c) All staff that may work in these places are advised to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per GOI guidelines, so that reopening of these may be expedited.

Barber Shops/ Spa/ Salon/ Beauty Parlors

a) Barber shops/ Spa / Salons and Beauty Parlors to remain closed.

b) All staff that may work in these establishments are advised to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per GOI guidelines, so that reopening of these may be expedited.

Newspapers:

a) Newspapers can be printed and circulated.

b) Home Delivery also to be allowed between 7 AM to 8 PM on all days.

c) All persons engaged in the activity to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per the criteria of GOI. All home delivery persons shall carry a negative RTPCR test result certificate, which will be valid for 15 days. This rule will come into effect from 10 April 2021.

Schools and colleges:

a) Schools and Colleges to remain closed.

b) Rule is hereby relaxed for std 10th and 12th students to the extent of exams. All the staff that may be used for the conduct of exams must be either vaccinated or should carry a negative RT-PCR certificate, valid for 48 hours.

c) For exams that are being conducted by any board, university or authority outside the State, denial of which may lead to hardships for students residing in Maharashtra may be allowed by the concerned department under intimation to concern disaster management authority,

d) All private Coaching classes of any kind to remain closed.

e) All staff that may work in these establishments are advised to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per GOI guidelines, so that reopening of these may be expedited.

Religious, Social, Political, Cultural Functions: 

a) No religious, social, cultural or political functions of any kind to be allowed.

b) In case of districts where elections are scheduled to be held, the permission may be granted by the District Collector for any political gatherings subject to the following conditions-

• Permission may be granted for any political gathering for the purpose of campaigning within the guidelines of the Election Commission of India subject to no more than 50 people or 50% occupancy whichever is less being allowed in any enclosed space and not more than 200 people or 50% of the capacity be allowed in open Spaces subject to complete adherence to all laid down COVID19 protocols 
• There should be personnel deputed by the Collector for overseeing any such event to ensure scrupulous adherence to all protocols.
• In case of violation of the said protocols, the owner of the premises should be held accountable and may be penalised under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Incase of serious breaches, the space may be sealed until the end of the pandemic.
• Incase of more than 2 such violations in gatherings of any candidate, no further permissions for holding any political gatherings be granted by the Collector to the said Collector.
• For any other event like rallies, corner meetings etc, all COVID19 protocols must be adhered to.
• All guidelines must be applied equally without fear or favour to all participants in the election process and there should be no room for any grievance arising from selective or partisan application of the said guidelines.

Marriages will be allowed with maximum of 50 people present.

a. All the staff at any marriage hall or at any location serving visitors have to be vaccinated and till completely vaccinated they have to carry a valid negative RT-PCR certificate.

b. Incase if any of the above are found to be without negative RTPCR Certificate/without being vaccinated as above, a fine of Rs 1000 will be levied on the offender and fine of Rs 10,000 will be levied on the establishment.

c. Repeated offence in respect of a premise would lead to sealing of the same and withdrawal of permission to conduct any gathering therein till operation of notification of Covid19 epidemic.

d) Funerals to be allowed a maximum of 20 people. All the staff should get vaccinated at the earliest and should carry a valid negative RT-PCR certificate.

Roadside Eatable Vendors:

a) There will be no serving of food for eating at the location – parcels or home deliveries are allowed from 7 AM to 8 PM on every day.

b) Waiting customers to wait away from counter with adequate social distancing.

c) Violation would lead to shutting down of the vendor till end of pandemic.

d) Every one engaged in the activity to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of GOI. Till vaccination, these have to carry a negative RT-PCR test result valid for 15 days. This order shall take effect from 10th April, 2021. If local authority feels that there is discipline in behaviour of the vendors, it may extend the effect of this order beyond 10th April 2021.

e) Local authority to have a close watch over such places through deployment of adequate personnel/ CCTV. Any customers or the vendors engaging in irresponsible behaviour violating COVID19 protocols to be fined.

f) However, if the local authority feels that such behaviour is repetitive and is not possible to contain with the imposition of fines, then they may order the closure of the location either temporarily or till the end of the pandemic.

Manufacturing Sector to be operational with following conditions:

a) Factories and manufacturing units to scan body temperature of labourers pre-entry

b) All staff – managerial as well as shop floor and others – without exception – everyone engaged in the activity to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of GOI

c) If a labourer/ worker found positive, other labourers who have come into active contact with him to be quarantined with pay

d) Factories/ Units with more than 500 workers to set up their own quarantine facilities

e) In case of any worker found to be positive, unit to be closed until completely sanitised

f) Lunch and tea breaks to be staggered for avoiding crowding. No common eating places

g) Common toilet facilities to be sanitised frequently

h) All workers to get vaccinated as per GOI criteria and till vaccinated to carry a valid negative RTPCR test result certificate, which will be valid for 15 days. This rule will come into effect from 10th April 2021

i) If a worker is found positive he or she would be allowed medical leave and cannot be continued during this absence for this reason. He or she will be entitled to full wages that he or she might have earned had he or she not contacted corona 

Oxygen Producers 

A) Any industrial process that is a net consumer of oxygen as a raw material is to be disallowed by default from 10th April 2021 onwards. Anyone desirous of carrying out such a process should approach the licensing authority and specifically ask for permission to continue by explaining the reasons. All licensing authorities should ensure that concerned establishments cither stop the process by 10th April 2021 or obtain explicit permission to continue

B) All industrial Producers of oxygen shall reserve 80% of their production (actual as well as Capacity) for medical or pharmaceutical purposes. They should declare their customers and end-use of the oxygen supplied from 10th April 2021 onwards.

E-Commerce:

a) Every one engaged in the activity to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of GOI and till vaccinated should carry a negative RT-PCR certificate that will remain valid for 15 days. The said rule will come into effect from 10th April 2021.

b) Repeated offence may lead to withdrawal of license to operate till the end of notification of COVID19 epidemic.

Co-operative Housing Societies

a) Any Co-operative Housing Society having more than 5 active Corona positive cases will be treated as a micro containment zone.

b) Such societies shall put up a board at the outside gate informing visitors and deny them entry.

c) All restrictions of micro-containment zones like control over ingress and egress shall be monitored by society.

d) In case of default the society may be fined Rs 10,000 in the first instance. Later instances may attract higher fines as decided by local authorities. This fine may be used to employ supervising personnel to ensure compliance with SOP by the society.

e) All CHS are advised to ensure that all persons coming into the building on a regular basis get their RTPCR test done till they are vaccinated as per Government norms.

Construction Activity:

a) To be allowed only for sites where labourers are living on site. The movement to and fro from outside must be avoided, except for the purposed of material movements.

b) Every one engaged in the activity to get vaccinated at the earliest, as per criteria of GOI and till getting vaccinated must carry a negative RTPCR test result certificate, which will be valid for 15 days. This rule will come into effect from 10th April 2021.

c) Defaults will lead to a fine of Rs 10,000 for the developer of the construction site and repeated defaults may lead to the closure of the site till the existence of notification of the COVID19 epidemic.

d) If a worker is found positive he or she would be allowed medical leave and cannot be discontinued during this absence for this reason. He or she will be entitled to full wages that he or she might have earned had he or she not contacted corona

Penalties:

All penalties as per Government orders dated 27th March 2021 will be in force aligned with the penalties as mentioned in the current order.

All the fines so collected shall move to the concerned disaster management authority for utilization of the same towards better containment and treatment of Covid19 disaster. 

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