Unlock 4.0: Preparing to allow more activities from September 1st

Unlock 4.0: Preparing to allow more activities from September 1st

The fourth phase of opening up the economy after the Corona virus lockdown is starting from September 1st. This phase is coming at a time when the number of corona cases in the country has crossed 34 lakh. So far 62,550 people have died in the country.

The Unlock-4 guidelines, which will be released today, will only list prohibited activities. Will be able to do other work. According to officials, the Metro service, which has been suspended after March 22 in Delhi and NCR, will be launched on September 1. Of course, a contactless recurring system will be set up for this and passengers will not be allowed to use tokens. Heavy fines will be levied for not wearing a mask, sitting in vacant seats to maintain social distance and spitting or littering at stations.

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Schools and colleges will remain closed, while liquor bars will be allowed to open for takeaways. Cinema halls will be closed if it is not practical to run shows with 25-30% capacity. The Karnataka government has decided to start studying in colleges with online classes from September 1. Offline classes will begin on October 1.

Domestic flights departing from Covid 19 hotspot in Unlock-4 will be allowed to land in Kolkata. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad would start three times a week. Pubs and clubs are expected to reopen next month, but a full lockdown will be implemented twice a week in Bengal.

At this stage, local trains will not resume in Mumbai. Mumbai Police has warned that vehicles of motorists leaving without reasonable cause will be impounded. Chennai has made e-police mandatory for travel within the state and between two districts. Unlock-4 will ease restrictions on liquor shops and hotels.

The Centre is finally likely to permit resumption of Metro services, which has been shut since March 22, from September 1. Officials have said modifications are still being figured out in consultation with ministry of housing and concrete affairs, local governments, Metro rail corporations and security agencies.

The Unlock 4 guidelines for resuming Metro service are going to be issued later in the week .

• Passengers travelling in Metro trains might not be allowed to use tokens anymore as Centre plans to implement a contactless ticketing system using only cards.

• Bars may additionally be allowed to sell liquor over the counter for takeaway services. They were also closed since on Annunciation when the lockdown came into effect.

• Schools and colleges will still remain closed but the govt is considering reopening institutes like IITs and IIMs.

• Cinema halls and auditoriums will also continue to remain closed for another month. Officials have said that albeit cinema halls are allowed immediately , it won’t be financially viable for them to run shows with only 25-30% capacity thanks to physical distancing norms.

• Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other large congregations also are likely to stay prohibited till next month.

• Officials have said Unlock 4 guidelines will only mention the activities which can be prohibited while the remainder can resume. The containment zones will continue to be under strict lockdown and monitoring.