Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to impose night curfew in urban areas of 20 districts to contain the spread of COVID-19 amid the second wave.
At present, night curfew is being imposed in 10 districts, bordering Chhattisgarh.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on Thursday announced that the night curfew will be enforced in urban areas, including Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, from 9 pm to 5 am, beginning Saturday.
However, during the night curfew essential services such as electricity, health, LPG services, and food delivery personnel will be exempted from restrictions. No separate permit will be issued and the ID cards provided by their organizations will be enough for these personnel to make movement during the restrictions.
He also said there will be no restrictions on movement of goods laden vehicles during the night curfew.
“The timing of the night curfew in urban areas of the 10 Chhattisgarh bordering districts has been revised. It will now start from 6 pm and continue till 5 am,” he said.
Weekend shutdown will be imposed in urban areas of Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Korapu
t and Malkangiri districts from coming Saturday, he added.
During the night curfew, restrictions shall not apply to the following :
- District and Municipal Administration/ Police/ Government Officials on duty
- Doctors, Medical/ Paramedical Staff (Govt. & private)
- All Emergency Services and Utilities such as Electricity, Telecom, Water Supply, sanitation and sewerage services and movement of vehicles and staff
- Staff of IT & ITeS Companies on production their ID cards
- Any person, in case of medical or other emergency
- Owner/ staff of chemist shops
- All industrial units
- All construction activities
- Movement of public transpott, private vehicles and taxis (including cabs by aggregators like Ola, Uber, etc.) to and from airports, railway station and bus terminals/ stanas/ stops, for facilitating movement of passengers by air, rail and road
- Operation of hotels and hospitality units, including their associated offices, movement of staff and associated personnel
- Dhabas along National and state Highways/ Major roads for takeaway only
- Petrol pumps and CNG Stations
- Print and Electronic Media identified by Commissionerate/ District police
As per the new guidelines no pass would be required for movement of above category of persons. Valid travel documents/authorisations such as airline/ railway bus tickets/ boarding passes, with any identity proof shall be adequate for the purpose.