NE NEWS SERVICE
GANDHINAGAR, APRIL 25
Starting tomorrow-Sunday, April 26, all the shops in Gujarat, except those located in COVID-19 containment zones, malls, and shopping complexes will be allowed to open, a senior official said on Saturday.
The state government also allowed IT and ITeS (IT-enabled services) companies to start their operations from Sunday with 50 percent of staff capacity, provided they are located outside the containment zone, the official said.
અમદાવાદની સિવિલ હોસ્પિટલમાં હાલ 472 દર્દીઓ કોરોનાગ્રસ્ત છે. દાખલ દર્દીઓમાં શહેરના કોટ વિસ્તારના મુસ્લિમ બિરાદરો પણ સામેલ છે. ઇસ્લામમાં રમઝાન મહિનો પવિત્ર ગણાય છે અને મુસ્લિમો દ્વારા રોજા રાખવામાં આવે છે. pic.twitter.com/0eZxyJFqGh
— Gujarat Information (@InfoGujarat) April 25, 2020
“From Sunday, shops across all the districts of Gujarat will be allowed to open provided that they are not located inside malls or shopping complexes, and are outside of COVID-19 containment zones as identified by the local administrations,” Secretary to the chief minister, Ashwani Kumar, told reporters.
અમદાવાદની ખુબ જ ભીડભાળ માટે જાણીતી ગલીઓ પણ આજે લોકડાઉનમાં ખુબ જ શાંત અને એકલી જોવા મળે છે
લોકડાઉનને સફળ બનાવવા તમારો સાથ સહકાર જો આજ રીતે મળશે તો ચોક્કસ જ જીત આપણી નિશ્ચિત છે
#GujaratFightsCovid19 pic.twitter.com/YVv1RYH5KE— Gujarat Police (@GujaratPolice) April 25, 2020
Shopkeepers and their staff members should mandatorily use face masks, follow social-distancing norms, and keep staff strength to 50 percent of their capacity, he said.
“The decision has been taken based on circular issued by the central government,” he said.
“Shops will be allowed to open on a few conditions. The first condition is that they should be outside the containment zones identified by the local authorities. The other condition is that masks and social distancing will have to be compulsorily followed by the shop owners and staff members. Shops should maintain 50 percent of its regular staff strength,” he added.
શબ્દો નથી વ્યક્ત કરવા માટે,,, સેલ્યુટ સર.
I proud of u 😊 @GujaratPolice
હમ હોગે કામયાબ🌸 https://t.co/yLVC5AsRGF— Dhaval Shah Vohera 🖋️📑 (@Vohera999) April 25, 2020
Kumar said that shops selling paan masala and tobacco will not be allowed to operate as of now. Similarly, barbershops, tea stalls, restaurants, and hotels will not be permitted to function.
“The state government also allowed IT and ITeS companies to start operating from Sunday with 50 percent of staff capacity provided they are located outside the containment zone,” he said.
નેશનલ મેડિકલ ઓર્ગેનાઇઝેશન તથા મણીનગર અને અમરાઇવાડી મેડિકલ સર્કલ દ્વારા "J" ટ્રાફિક પોલીસ સ્ટેશનનાં તમામ કર્મચારીઓનું મેડિકલ ચેકઅપ કરવામાં આવ્યુ તેમજ કોરોના વાયરસથી તકેદારી માટેની સમજણ આપીને હોમિયોપેથીક દવા આપવામાં આવી.#AhmedabadPolice#AmdavadfightsCorona pic.twitter.com/xpBu85xjhI
— Ahmedabad Police અમદાવાદ પોલીસ (@AhmedabadPolice) April 25, 2020
Shops will not open in 6 of 48 wards: Ahmedabad civic chief
No shops will be open in six out of 48 wards in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s worst coronavirus-hit city, as these are part of containment zones created to control the COVID-19 outbreak, civic officials said on Saturday, a day after the Centre allowed the conditional opening of shops amid the nationwide lockdown.
The Gujarat government has allowed standalone shops to operate across the state from Sunday, except in areas declared cluster containment zones by local authorities.
Walled city in the Morning.
Social Distancing & Lockdown
Lockdown dairies. #lockdownindia @CMOGuj @PradipsinhGuj @nirnaykapoor pic.twitter.com/chVwkNKic8— Shamsher Singh IPS (@Shamsher_IPS) April 25, 2020
“Six out of 48 wards in Ahmedabad city have been declared cluster containment zone, including four in the central zone and two in the south zone. Shops will not open in these six wards. The relaxations will be implemented in other areas with some restrictions. Teams will check if social distancing norms are being maintained and everyone is wearing masks,” an official said.
Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra said the number of COVID-19 cases in the city was doubling every eight days and at this rate, the number of patients could reach around 10,000 by May 15.
However, he added the city had readied infrastructure for such a number.
“If we slow down the doubling span to 12 days, then we may have 7,000-8,0000 cases by May 15,” he added.
Nehra said the city had tested 20,801 samples, which comes to a rate of 3,300 per million, which is one of the highest in the country, he said.
The central government on Friday night issued an order saying that neighbourhood and standalone shops, including those selling garments, mobile phones, hardware, and stationery items have been allowed to open but those located in market places, malls, and COVID-19 hotspot and containment zones, will continue to remain shut till May 3.
The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 in a bid to combat the coronavirus endemic. It was further extended till May 3.
Market management committees get extension
Market management committees whose tenure for the operation has expired or those whose tenure will get expired by July 31, 2020, have been given an extension till July 31, 2020. In addition to that, the elections for market management committees shall be carried by the dates provided by the court.
The state government has started the distribution of 3.5 kg wheat and 1.5 kg rice to 66 lakh NFSA cardholders. Around 4.5 lakh people have availed their benefits to date.
5 lakh 59 thousand quintals of farm produce have been sold at APMCs in Gujarat. 2 lakh 99 thousand quintals of wheat, 1 lakh 55 thousand quintals of castor, and 30658 quintals of mustard occupy a major portion of the products sold.
48.80 lakh liters of milk has been sold in the state. 1 lakh 14 thousand 657 quintals of vegetables and 5054 quintals of fruits are available in the market.
Central teams assess situation in Ahmedabad, Surat
Separate central teams visited Ahmedabad and Surat cities in Gujarat on Saturday to take stock of the COVID-19 situation in these two districts, officials said.
The teams held talks with senior officials, including collectors, civic chiefs, police commissioners in Ahmedabad and Surat, they said.
Both the inter-ministerial central teams (IMCT) are headed by Additional Secretary-level officers.
The visit comes a day after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that the coronavirus situation in Ahmedabad, Surat, Thane (Maharashtra), Hyderabad (Telangana) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) is ‘especially serious’.
Till Friday evening, Ahmedabad district reported 1,821 coronavirus positive cases, while the number of such patients in Surat district is 462. As many as 83 patients have died in Ahmedabad, while 14 others succumbed to the infection in Surat district.
‘The central teams held discussions with senior officials of the local administrations in the two hotspot cities on issues like rising cases of coronavirus and implementation of lockdown measures,’ official sources said.
The Surat team held talks with state Chief Secretary Anil Mukim through video-conference, during which they discussed the condition of migrant workers stuck in Surat.
Surat Municipal Commissioner B N Pani said he took part in the meeting. However, he did not share any further details.
These central teams will visit some of the COVID-19 hotspot localities in Ahmedabad and Surat cities, the sources said.
The MHA has directed the central teams to make an on- the-spot assessment of the situation and issue necessary directions to the state authorities for its redressal and submit their report to the central government.
The teams are tasked with taking stock of different factors, like compliance and implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act 2005, supply of essential commodities, social distancing, preparedness of health infrastructure, hospital facilities and sample statistics in the district.
Surat’s migrant workers with own vehicles can leave for their native places, says Navsari MP CR Patil
The state government has allowed migrant workers in Surat havingr own vehicles to leave for their hometowns amid the nationwide lockdown enforced to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, according to BJP leader and Lok Sabha MP from Navsari constituency, CR Patil on Saturday.
“We had requested Home Minister Amit Shah that the migrant workers who are in Surat, Gujarat should be allowed to go back to their native places, as the industries here are currently closed and are likely to stay closed further due to lockdown. CM Vijay Rupani had been asked to act upon this matter,” Patil said.
“Following this, the Collector has been informed to permit workers who have their own vehicles to leave for their native places. The application, which can be done online, has to have the vehicle number and names and details of people who will get the permit,” he added.
The BJP MP further said that currently, only those who have their own vehicles can get the permit to leave.
Migrant workers, across the country, have been stranded at their places of work and have been demanding to be allowed to go back to their native places, citing the closure of sources of income and other hardships they had to face amid the lockdown which was extended till May 3 by the Centre.
