As per the reports garnered by media officials “normalcy on ground” will be the focus of Lockdown 4.0, which comes into effect from May 18. A few details about the same were possessed by NDTV. A full lockdown announcement post-May 17 still awaits.
The report says that the Home Ministry has decided that the first area to be given any kind of relaxation will be public transport – both ground and skies. The places to give relaxation to will be decided on the basis of the ground situation reported by the Chief Ministers to the Prime Minsiter in the last meeting.
Explaining, an official said, “Local buses will start plying with limited capacity in non-hotspot zones”. He further went on to add that Autos and taxis will also be allowed, with restrictions on the number of passengers. Most of these will be allowed to ply within the districts in non-containment zones, he said.
The government is also planning to open air travel for domestic sector and allow interstate travel for the ones who possess a travel pass.
“Most states agree that stringent steps should be taken to contain the spread of virus,” the official said.
“As they would be redefining the jurisdiction of their hotspots, no activity will be allowed in these zones. But in the rest, they want relaxations,” he said, adding that before allowing that, “We are doing our own data crunching”
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The report adds that Maharatsra is planning to extend the lockdown as it has been severely affected by the virus spread. “They don’t want to allow any inter district movement as of now or offices to open,” said another official.
State and UTs like Andhra Pradesh Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat and Delhi want to open up some sectors. Meanwhile, states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha will continue with stringent lockdown as the return of migrant workers in the state has led to a rise in COVID-19 cases.
