by: Navjeevan Express

Over 31 lakh people are living in containment zones in Gujarat: CM

NE NEWS SERVICE

GANDHINAGAR, MAY 19

Over 31 lakh people are living in coronavirus containment zones across Gujarat, including 13 lakh in Ahmedabad and 8.4 lakh in Surat municipal corporation areas, the state government said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said as per the provisions of the Lockdown 4.0 there was no need for passes to commute between districts.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had said on Monday that there will be no relaxation of restrictions in containment zones in the fourth phase of lockdown.

As per a list provided by the state government on Tuesday, 6.5 lakh families – over 31 lakh people – are living in such areas.

No shops selling non-essential items will be allowed to remain open in containment zones, and nobody from these zones is allowed to go out.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has identified 11 containment zones, 10 of them located on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati river.

In suburbs and rural parts of Ahmedabad, ten containment zones have been identified: six in Daskroi, two in Sanand, and one each in Dholka and Viramgam talukas. Around 15,000 people live in these areas.

In the Surat Municipal Corporation area, there are 33 containment zones – four in the central zone, eight in the east zone, four in the west zone, six in the north zone, seven in the south zone, two in the southwest zone, and two in the southeast zone.

Around 8.43 lakh people live in these areas. Besides, 72,000 people live in containment zones in rural parts of the Surat district.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation has identified 90 containment zones, covering around 54,000 people.

42,782 people are living in containment zones in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation area, 14,837 in Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation limits, and 45,412 in Banaskantha district.

Around one lakh people live in the containment zone each in Gir-Somnath and Mahisagar districts.

The state government has offered significant relaxation from restrictions outside the containment zones.

While Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara have been placed under the red zone, 17 districts are in the orange zone and 13 in the green zone, as per the government release.

No passes needed for inter-dist travel: Deputy CM

As the Gujarat Health Department issued an order, here on Tuesday, identifying the containment zones, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said as per the provisions of the Lockdown 4.0 there was no need for passes to commute between districts.

“Now any citizen can travel anywhere in the state. No passes are needed for inter-district travel. But there won’t be any movement inside the containment zones, except for medical emergencies and services,” said Patel.

The state government has identified 575 containment zones. Of these, 11 have been marked in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation area, 41 in the Surat Municipal Corporation area, 25 in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation area, 90 in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation area, 21 in the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation area, 8 in the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation area and one each zone in the Rajkot and the Junagadh Municipal Corporation areas.

In these containment zones, there are 31,03,473 people in 6,52,558 households.

Ahmedabad, the hotspot declared by the Union government, which accounts for 75-80 per cent of the Covid-19 cases in the state.

12 Ahmedabad returnees referred to AIIMS due to fever

Twelve out of a total of 451 migrants returning from Ahmedabad were referred to AIIMS, Rishikesh for testing on Tuesday after they developed a high fever on their arrival here.

The migrants, who first came to Haldwani in a ”Shramik Special” train from Ahmedabad, reached Rishikesh by bus and they were to be despatched to their respective destinations in the Garhwal region, Tehsildar Magistrate Rekha Arya said.

During their thermal screening, 12 out of 451 returnees were found suffering from high fever, she said.

Since they have come from a highly-infected place, they were sent for further tests to AIIMS, Rishikesh, she said. They will be isolated if they test positive, otherwise, they will be kept under home quarantine, the official said.