Allahabad HC orders lockdown in 5 UP cities, state govt says can't do it.
Emphasising that the livelihood of the poor needs to be saved, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has refused to impose the lockdown ordered by the Allahabad High Court in five cities of the state.
As per the Allahabad High Court order, the lockdown was to come into effect from Monday night and till April 26.
"All establishments, be it government or private, except financial institutions and financial departments, medical and health services, industrial and scientific establishments, essential services including municipal functions and public transport, shall remain closed till April 26," an official order had stated.
It also mentioned: "During the lockdown, all shopping complexes, malls, restaurants, hotels, grocery shops and other commercial shops will also remain closed. However, medical stores will continue to operate."
As per Allahabad High Court order, the following services were to be closed during lockdown in 5 UP cities
1. All establishments, be it government or private, except financial institutions and financial departments, medical and health services, industrial and scientific establishments, essential services including municipal functions, and public transport, shall remain closed till April 26. The judiciary will, however, function on its own discretion;
2. All shopping complexes and malls shall remain closed till April 26.
3. All grocery shops and other commercial shops, excluding medical shops, with more than three workers shall remain closed till April 26.
4. All hotels, restaurants and even the small eating points on thelas etc., shall remain closed till April 26.
5. All institutions like educational institutions and other institutions relating to other disciplines and activities be it government, semi-government or private shall remain closed including for their teachers and instructors and other staff till April 26 (this direction is for the entire Uttar Pradesh)
6. No social functions and gatherings including marriage functions shall be permitted till April 26. However, in case of already fixed marriages, necessary further permission would have to be taken from the district magistrate of the concerned district. Gatherings would be limited to 25 persons and the district magistrate concerned shall take decision after giving due consideration to the prevailing situation of the impact of Covid-19 including notification of containment zones in the area where such marriage has to take place.
7. All religious activities in public of any kind is directed to remain suspended till April 26.
8. All religious establishments of any kind are directed to remain closed till April 26.
9. All hawkers including fruits and vegetable vendors, milk vendors and bread vendors, shall go off the road by 11 AM every day till April 26.
10. Containment zones shall be notified every day in two leading Hindi and English newspapers having wide circulation in the districts of Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar/ Dehat and Gorakhpur.
11. All public movements on roads would remain restricted completely, subject to above directions. Movements would be only allowed in case of medical help and emergencies.
12. In addition to the above directions, we direct the state government to go robust for implementing the current vaccination programme
The following services were allowed
1. Medical shops.
2. Grocery stores with less than 3 workers.
3. Financial institutions and financial departments.
4. Medical and health services.
5. Industrial and scientific establishments.
6. Essential services including municipal functions and public transport.
7. Already fixed marriages with necessary permission from the district magistrate of concerned district.
8. Movement in cases of medical help and emergencies.
The lockdown in five cities of Uttar Pradesh comes at a time when the state has been witnessing an unprecedented jump in daily cases of coronavirus. On Sunday, UP registered over 30,000 fresh cases of coronavirus in a 24-hours span. The fresh spike of 30,596 cases was UP's highest-ever single-day tally since the beginning of the pandemic and pushed state's active caseload to 1,91,457 on Sunday.