As per the classification by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, only one of Uttarakhand’s 13 districts has been classified under Red zone. Haridwar district has been classified as a Red zone. While Dehradun and Nainital districts have been categorised as Orange zones, the remaining districts- Udham Singh Nagar, Almora, Pauri, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Tehri have been classified as Green zones.
According to the new guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to regulate different activities in the extended period of lockdown for two weeks from May 4, considerable relaxations have been permitted in the districts falling in the Green and Orange zones.
In the Red zones, outside the containment zones, certain activities are prohibited in addition to those prohibited throughout the country.
These include plying of cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws; running of taxis and cab aggregators; intra-district and inter-district plying of buses; and, barber shops, spas and salons. Certain other activities have been allowed in the Red zones with restrictions. Movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed only for permitted activities, with a maximum of two persons (besides the driver) in four-wheeler vehicles, and with no pillion rider in the case of two-wheelers. Industrial establishments in urban areas- Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Export Oriented Units (EOUs), industrial estates and industrial townships with access control have been permitted.
The other industrial activities permitted are manufacturing units of essential goods, including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates; production units, which require continuous process, and their supply chain; manufacturing of IT hardware; jute industry with staggered shifts and social distancing; and, manufacturing units of packaging material. Construction activities in urban areas have been limited to in-situ construction and construction of renewable energy projects. Shops in urban areas, for non-essential goods, are not allowed in malls, markets and market complexes.
However, all standalone shops, neighborhood shops and shops in residential complexes are permitted to remain open in urban areas, without any distinction of essential and non-essential. Private offices can operate with upto 33% strength as per requirement, with the remaining persons working from home.
All government offices shall function with senior officers of the level of Deputy Secretary and above at full strength, and the remaining staff attending upto 33% as per requirement. All industrial and construction activities are allowed in rural areas.
All agriculture, plantation and animal husbandry activities are permitted. All health services are to remain functional while a large part of the financial sector will remain open.
Most of the commercial and private establishments have been allowed in the Red zones. These include print and electronic media, IT and IT enabled services, data and call centres, cold storage and warehousing services, private security and facility management services, and services provided by self-employed persons, except for barbers etc, as stated earlier. In the Orange zones, in addition to activities permitted in Red zone, taxis and cab aggregators will be permitted with one driver and two passengers only.
Inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles will be allowed for permitted activities only.
In the Green zones, all activities are permitted except the limited number of activities which are prohibited throughout the country, irrespective of the zone. However buses can operate with upto 50% seating capacity and bus depots can operate with upto 50% capacity.