The Gujarat government has announced relaxations in lockdown with efffect from Monday and decided to allow shops and businesses located outside the COVID-19 containment zones to operate without any restriction of the odd-even formula.
State transport buses will be allowed to operate with 60% passenger capacity, two-wheelers allowed to have a pillion rider, and four-wheelers with six or more seats can have three passengers along with the driver.
Banks in both containment and non-containment zones will be opened and government offices allowed to operate with full capacity. A government resolution (GR) to this effect was issued late on Saturday night.
Restrictions will however continue on single screen cinema halls, multiplexes, educational institutes, large public gathering, cultural events, swimming pools, zoos, public gardens, tourist places and beaches, it said.
According to the GR, shops and businesses in non-containment zones will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“The government will allow all shops, except those located in containment zones or placed under negative list, to open between 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in municipal areas and till 8 p.m. in areas outside the municipal limits. The odd even formula for shops located in shopping complexes and markets will be done away with in the fifth phase of the lockdown or Unlock-1 starting Monday,” according to the GR.
Shops located in malls and restaurants will be allowed from June 8 in accordance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
City buses have been allowed to operate in non-containment zones with passenger limit of 50% in Ahmedabad and Surat, and 60% in other cities, it said.
The State government will also come up with a list of micro-containment areas, which will continue to remain under restrictions along with the containment zones, with only essential services allowed there between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Nobody living in these areas will be allowed to leave for work.
Street vendors will be allowed to operate only in areas designated by the urban local bodies starting June 8, it said.
All economic activities will be allowed in areas outside the containment/micro containment zones, and industries allowed to operate with 100% capacity with physical distancing, it said.
Liquor shops have been allowed to open for permit holders.
Curfew will be imposed across the State between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., the GR said.
