Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till June 28, public transport to resume in Chennai
Metro rail and non-ac bus services can operate with 50 per cent occupancy in the state capital as Tamil Nadu adopts a three-tier model of easing lockdown restrictions.
A health worker administers a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to a person at a drive-in vaccination centre, at MGM Hospital, in Chennai, Friday, June 11, 2021. (PTI Photo)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday issued an order extending lockdown for another week till June 28. Based on the Covid-19 caseload, the state government has come up with three tiers of restrictions in the 38 districts.
Tier-1 districts where cases continue to remain high will have no additional relaxations. Coimbatore, Nilgris, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Karur, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Mayiladuthurai fall in tier-1.
You have exhausted your monthly limit of free stories.
Read more stories for free with an Express account.
In tier- 2, 23 districts namely Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Kanniyakumari, Krishnagiri, Madurai, Perambur, Pudukkotai, Ramanathapuram, Ranipet, Sivaganga, Theni, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Tiruppatur, Tiruvannamalai, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirapalli, Villupuram, Vellore and Virudhunagar have been listed.
Four districts Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengalpet and Tiruvallur are in tier-3 and will see the easing of most of the restrictions.
Some key relaxations for 23 districts in tier-2
Stand-alone grocery, vegetable and meat stores to function from 6 am to 7 pm.
Parcel services alone in hotels; restaurants and bakeries from 6 am to 9 pm.
E-commerce services allowed from 6 am to 9 pm.
All necessary government departments can operate with full workforce. The rest of the departments can function with 50% staff.
Two-wheeler, four-wheeler sale and service centres from 9 am to 5 pm.
Mobile, electronic, electrical, footwear, optical shops from 9 am to 5 pm.
Electricians, plumbers and other self-employed people can work from 6 am till 5 pm with e-registration.
Schools, colleges and universities can undertake admission works.
Sports activities can be conducted from 6 am to 5 pm without spectators.
Sports events can be conducted in an open area.
Auto-rickshaws, rental taxis will be allowed to ply following e-registration.
Relaxations for four tier-3 districts
Apart from those in tier-2, the districts in tier-3 will see additional relaxations. Some of them are:
Inter and Intra-district non-ac bus services can resume with 50 per cent occupancy.
Film and television shootings with a maximum of 100 people.
Passengers will be allowed to travel in auto-rickshaw, rental-taxis without e-registration. Only three people (apart from the driver) will be allowed to travel in rental taxis and two people (apart from the driver) will be allowed to travel in auto-rickshaws.
Metro rail function with 50 per cent occupancy.
Beauty parlours, saloons, spas can operate with 50 per cent capacity from 6 am till 7 pm.
All kinds of construction work allowed.
All government offices can function with 100 per cent workforce.
Private companies to function with 50 per cent staff.
Vehicle shops and service centres to function from 9 am to 7 pm.
Self-employed people can work from 6 am till 7 pm with e-registration.
Those shops allowed to function till 5 pm in tier-2 can function till 7 pm in tier-3.
Tea shops (parcel alone) allowed to function from 6 am till 7 pm
Street food shops (parcel alone) allowed to function from 6 am till 7 pm.
In districts that come under tiers 2 and 3, people will be allowed to travel within districts to participate in weddings with e-pass. They can get the e-pass from the concerned district collector online (https://eregister.tnega.org/#/user/pass). A maximum of 50 people are allowed to participate in weddings.
Janardhan Koushik is Deputy Copy Editor of indianexpress.com. He is a New Media journalist with over five years of reporting experience in the industry. He has a keen interest in politics, sports, films, and other civic issues.
Janardhan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication from SRM Arts and Science College and a PG Diploma in New Media from Asian College of Journalism, one of the top ranked journalism schools in India.
He started his career with India Today group as a sub-editor as part of the sports team in 2016. He has also a wide experience as a script-writer having worked for short-films, pilot films as well as a radio jockey cum show producer while contributing for an online Tamil FM.
As a multilingual journalist, he actively tracks the latest development in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry utiling his well-established networks to contribute significantly to breaking news stories. He has also worked as a sports analyst for Star Sports. ... Read More
