Pune: Industrial units cannot be closed if a few employees found COVID positive

Pune, June 10, 2020: District Collector Naval Kishore Ram has clarified that industrial establishments/units cannot be closed if isolated cases (COVID19) found in nearby areas. However, effective containment and awareness are needed. He said that the entire unit or establishment cannot be closed if one or two positive cases are found in nearby society or locality or in the industrial unit, establishment.

All the Sub Divisional Officers (SDO), who are the incident commander to declare containment zone or micro containment zone when positive cases are found, have been directed to ensure contact tracing of other employees instead of closing the unit when one or two employees are found COVID19 positive. However, if the circumstances require then SDO has to take prior permission for closing the industrial unit, states the order issued Dr Jayshree Katare, who is the Resident Deputy Collector and CEO of the District Disaster Management Authority.

After the relaxations laid by the state government, industries in Chakan have been allowed to use the full workforce. However, some employees working have been tested positive for Coronavirus, which has caused chaos, and the industrialists had requested the district administration for clarification as they received notices to close down the units.

The industrialists had also approached the senior officials, including Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar, to address fears of closure again. The businessmen and industrialists alleged that they are being harassed even after taking precautions and screening employees. They said that they will no option but to shut down operations again.

Pune District Collector order in Marathi for not closing industrial unit