The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked the States to strictly implement night curfew for non-essential activities in all jurisdiction till lockdown 4.0 is in force.
In a letter to all the States, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said it had been noticed through “media reports and others sources” that there were violations at various places in the implementation of the MHA guidelines for the lockdown extended till May 31 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The need to ensure night curfew or prohibition of all non-essential activities, between 7 PM and 7 AM is an important element of the MHA guidelines. The night curfew has been mandated with a view to ensuring that people observe social distancing and to contain the risk of spread of infection. Accordingly, local authorities should be asked to issue orders in the entirety of their jurisdiction, under proper provisions of law for imposition of night curfew. Strict compliance of these orders should be ensured by the local authorities,” the letter said.
The MHA asked the States for “proper delineation of containment zones and effective implementation of the containment measures within these zones” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The guidelines issued on May 17 had given considerable flexibility to the States in deciding the zones and allowed buses, autorickshaws and cabs to ply in all the zones except in containment areas. Shops were allowed to open except those in malls.
