As India moves towards taking measures to check the spread of coronavirus, most of the cities in the country, including Bengaluru have been put under complete lockdown starting Monday 6 am to midnight of March 31. Here are the things that have happened after the victorious Janata Curfew on Sunday. Below, we have shared the list of what is excluded from the lockdown and what services are likely to be affected.
Basic services kept out of the restrictions
All offices, shops and commercial establishments, factories, workshops, weekly bazaars, religious places, construction works remained closed on Monday and any gathering of more than five persons continued to remain banned.
Nevertheless, basic services– dairies, grocery shops, milk plants, cashier and teller services in banks including ATMs, municipal and water services, general provision stores, home delivery from restaurants, print, and electronic media, e-commerce of all essential goods, medical shops, petrol pumps, law enforcement agencies, police, health services, fire, electricity,– have been kept out of the restrictions.
The government has notified a list of essential services and commodities, which can broadly be separated into four categories:
Food and products: Groceries, fruits and vegetables, milk and dairy-related products, loading and unloading of wheat and rice at FCI and State food depots, cattle feed, and fodder.
Medical: Medicines and other pharmaceuticals, health services, manufacturing of health and medical equipment.
Other Services: Newspapers, banks, and ATMs, post offices, telecom, petrol and diesel pumps
Household services: Electricity and water supply, sanitary services, LPG supply
Public Transportation
Public transports which included all air-conditioned buses of KSRTC, BMTC and Namma Metro, have been withdrawn, but non-AC BMTC buses will operate and private transport services such as taxis and autorickshaws did not run on Monday. Meanwhile, all Inter-district transport has also been suspended.
According to the report, Cab aggregator, Ola, and Uber have announced to suspend their services in Delhi till March 31. “Uber is complying with all Central and state government directives related to its services for containing the spread of coronavirus,” an Uber spokesperson said in response to a query.
An Ola spokesperson said the company “We will enable a minimal network of vehicles to support essential services in cities, wherever applicable, as part of this national effort to reduce the contagion of Covid-19”.
Meanwhile, Domestic flights will continue to operate but passengers would have to arrange their commute to and from the airport.
Here is a detailed list reported by The Hindu, of what is excluded from the lockdown and what services are likely to be affected:
What is excluded from the lockdown
- Food outlets, ration shops, shops selling milk, vegetables, groceries, meat, fish, and fruits, markets, and supply of cooking gas
- Transportation of all goods
- Police, and Fire and Emergency Services
- Government offices, ULBs and PR institution offices, postal services
- Electricity, water, and municipal services
- Banks/ATMs, telecom services. Banks will provide only essential services like cash deposit and withdrawal, clearing of cheques, remittances, and government transactions. Mobile and Internet banking will work.
- Home delivery of food, pharmacies, and supply of medical equipment
- Takeaway from restaurants
- Shops and markets related to agriculture, sericulture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries
- Canteen services provided by the government and local bodies
What will be affected
- All shops, commercial establishments, workshops, godowns dealing in non-essential services
- All labor-intensive industries to work at 50% strength on rotation by ensuring social distancing
- All IT and biotechnology units will ensure work from home except where it is not feasible
- AC bus services of RTCs and private operators
- Inter-State and inter-district services will not be operated from COVID-19 affected districts
