This meant that Sunday’s lockdown, called Janata Curfew, will remain in force in Agra, Lucknow, Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida), Ghaziabad, Muradabad, Varanasi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bareilly, Azamgarh, Kanpur, Meerut, Prayagraj, Aligarh, Gorakhpur and Saharanpur. Later, Pilibhit was also added to the list.
Earlier in the day, the Centre decided to put 75 districts under lockdown, including six from UP, across the country.
“In the first phase, we are going to completely lock down 15 districts where either coronavirus affected people are there or have been isolated. The Janata Curfew will extend to these (15) districts,” said Adityanath, in a public appeal made on Sunday evening.
This meant that non-essential services – such public transport – will remain suspended for the three days, while flyers will be allowed to be ferried to their destinations, according to a government notice. No state buses will ply till Wednesday.
People will not be allowed to enter government offices and employees part of non-essential services have been asked to work from home.
The notice clarified that essential services – such as health, disaster relief, food, fire safety, bank, e-commerce, petrol pump etc – were exempted from the purview of the lockdown.
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Adityanath is likely to review the anti-coronavirus measures on Monday.
In pictures: Silence of Janata Curfew breaks with sounds of bells, shankhs and beating thalis
In addition, he asked the district administration ensure self-isolation of people in another 14 districts who were returning from cities such as Mumbai, Surat etc.
He asked people not to leave their home, even after 9pm on Sunday and urged them to co-operate like they did during Janata Curfew, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.
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Observing that the three days would allow the government to sanitise the cities, he said, “We are standing at a stage where even a small error can be dangerous.”
“Police helpline 112 would also supply necessary things in case of emergency. There are 3,000 four-wheelers and 1,500 two wheelers of 112 in the state,” he said, adding there were enough ambulances at ready.
Considering a large number of work force and labourers coming back to mainly eastern Uttar Pradesh districts from cities such as Mumbai and Surat, the chief minister instructed the administration to ensure self isolation of these people.
“Yesterday and today, people have come in large numbers from different places especially Mumbai and Surat. These districts include Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Mau, Kushinagar, Jhansi, Ghazipur, Ayodhya, Basti, Barabanki, Deoria, Ballia, Bhadohi, Santkabir Nagar and Gonda,” said Adiyanath.
He requested such migrant workers to isolate themselves.
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The government also directed six districts bordering Nepal to be on alert. These districts are Balrampur, Bahraich, Maharajganj, Sidharthanagar, Shravasti and Pilibhit.
He requested people to not gather at temples, mosques or gurudwaras, and asked them to perform their respective religious activities at home instead.
Meanwhile, all the 75 districts in the state – including Lucknow, Prayagraj, Kanpur and Varanasi – on Sunday received an overwhelming response on Janata Curfew as residents stayed indoors.
Police teams were deployed at different locations in Lucknow to ensure people observed the lockdown. All shops, except a few selling essentials, remained shut on Sunday. In the evening, people extended their gratitude to health workers and others by clapping from their balconies and houses.
WITH INPUTS FROM AVANEESH MISHRA
4 min read
People will not be allowed to enter government offices and employees part of non-essential services have been asked to work from home.
