Mamata hints at lockdown extension, activates gradual exit plan

Small shops and certain factories will be allowed to open shutter in West Bengal’s eight green-zone districts from Monday (May 4) as the state government has chalked out a gradual lockdown-exit plan.

However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hinted that the lockdown could be further extended in the rest of the state beyond May 3.

She told reporters on Wednesday (April 29) evening that her government is waiting for clear directions from the Centre about lockdown exit while adding that “our experts and doctors” believe that the restrictions should continue till the end of May.

Earlier in the day, the state’s cabinet committee, formed exclusively to deal with the COVID-19 crisis, chalked out a phase-wise exit plan that included gradual normalising of life in green zone areas and facilitating the return of those from the state stranded in other parts of the country, claimed sources from the home department.

“The districts marked as red and orange zones will not get the relaxation benefits to be formally notified by the government in a day or two,” said a senior official of the department. In the orange zone, local administration may give certain relaxation after evaluating the ground situation.

The plan is already activated with 101 buses with more than 2,500 stranded students leaving from Kota in Rajasthan for Siliguri, Asansol and Kolkata on Wednesday afternoon.

Talks are also on with the Tamil Nadu government to bring back some patients stranded in Vellore, the official added.

Besides, to bring back migrant workers, tourists and other stranded citizens, a “nodal body” will be soon formed to chalk out modalities for their evacuation, and also “isolation” on reaching the state, said the official, who has been privy to the decisions taken in the committee.

The Union home ministry also gave clearance to the state to facilitate the return of its citizens in coordination with the host as well as transit states.

“We have already started creating a database for transfer of one-time grant of Rs 1,000 to the bank account of migrant workers by launching a mobile app called Sneher Paras. The same database can naturally be used for facilitating their return home,” said the official.

He also added that even before the Centre’s clearance, many states, including West Bengal, have started collecting information such as Aadhaar card details and phone numbers of the “guest workers” stuck in their respective state.

The official though admitted the whole evacuation exercise would be a complicated process involving several states.

Meanwhile, the chief minister announced the slew of lockdown relaxation measures her government is planning for the green zones.

She said shops selling electronic and electric goods, hardware items, stationery items, paint shops, pan shops, tea stalls, laundry etc., will be allowed to open in the green zones provided they are not located in any market complexes. Meanwhile, in tea and pan shops people will not be allowed to gather.

As per the guidelines, small factories and construction work in the green zone will be allowed after ensuring health safety protocols.

Buses will also be allowed to ply with a maximum of 20 passengers in these eight districts, as per the guidelines prepared by the government. But the inter-district buses will continue to remain off the roads.

The eight districts in the green zone are Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakhin Dinajpur, Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram. There is no COVID-19 case in these districts.

Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts which reported most positive cases are in the red zones. South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Paschim Medinipur, Purba Bardhaman, Paschim Bardhaman, Kalimpong, Nadia, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Murshidabad and Malda are in the orange zone.

The marking has been made on the basis of the number of COVID-19 positive cases detected in the district.

As of April 29, according to the health department’s figure, the number of active COVID-19 cases in the state is 550 and the death toll is 22. The doubling rate of positive cases has now increased to 9 days from 6 days recorded a fortnight ago.