According to the new categorisation of the districts for the fourth phase of lockdown till May 31, there is not a single Red zone district in the state at present. Further, all shops will be allowed to open in Orange and Green zones daily from 7 AM to 4 PM. However, to prevent crowding, the odd-even formula will be applied to private four-wheelers according to the date in seven cities of the state, informed the chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh on Monday.
He informed that following the criteria set by the Centre, the State Government has categorised Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Haridwar, Pithoragarh, Tehri and Rudraprayag districts as Green zones while Dehradun, Almora, Nainital, Pauri, Udham Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi districts have been categorised as Orange zones. The number of total active cases per one lakh population, doubling rate in last seven days, fatality rate, testing ratio and test positivity rate are the factors considered in categorisation of districts.
Singh informed that as per Central directions, the district magistrate will ascertain containment zones and buffer zones in the district. The earlier restrictions and relaxations will continue in Red zones. Inter-state transport will remain prohibited in general though in special circumstances, permission for this will be granted by the state’s nodal officer, divisional commissioner and the district magistrate. In the Green and Orange zone districts, inter-state and intra-state public transport will be allowed at 50 per cent capacity. For inter-state public transport, Uttarakhand government will await categorisation of districts in other states, according to which such transportation will be facilitated. In both inter-state and intra-state public transport, the Central and State government guidelines regarding social distancing and other directions will have to be followed.
The transport department will issue standard operating procedures for this purpose. The operation of salons, spas, beauty parlours, restaurants etc will remain prohibited in Red zones till May 31. However, salons, beauty parlours, spas will remain open in Green and Orange zones while restaurants will be allowed to operate their kitchens for home deliveries. All the commercial establishments and shops will be allowed to remain open from 7 AM to 4 PM daily. While the secretariat will remain open from 9:30 AM to 4 PM, all government and private offices will be open from 10 AM to 4 PM. Social distancing, sanitisation and other directions will have to be followed effectively in all the offices.
Since all shops and commercial establishments (except those prohibited) will be allowed to open on all days in Green and Orange zones, the state has decided to implement the odd-even formula for private four-wheelers in the cities with municipal corporations- Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee,Haldwani, Rudrapur, Kashipur and Kotdwar. This formula will be applied on the basis of the license plate number and the date. This restriction will not be applicable on government vehicles, goods carriers, vehicles deployed for essential services and authorised vehicles with permission from other states. In addition to the driver, maximum three persons will be allowed in a private four-wheeler. All general movement and non-essential activities will remain prohibited from 4 PM to 7 AM.
The chief secretary further informed that about 2.25 lakh Uttarakhandis had registered for returning to Uttarakhand of which about 1.04 lakh had returned by Sunday. Similarly, more than 38,000 migrants in Uttarakhand had registered for returning to their home states with more than 22,000 of them having been sent so far.
Further, out of 121 Uttarakhandis abroad who were interested in returning, 73 have returned to the nation and are currently under quarantine in different states while 50 are slated to return on May 19-20. Regarding migrants who have returned to their villages in the state, Singh requested their families and locals to cooperate.
He also stressed that returning migrants must strictly observe the 14-day mandatory home quarantine. If anyone is found violating the home quarantine, the administration will initiate action under the Disaster Management Act.