Maharashtra: Water sports, amusement parks to reopen in state

The SOP applies to all water sports registered with Maharashtra Maritime Board. Some of these activities include jet-skiing, windsurfing, powerboats, kayaking, barefoot skiing, water rafting among others. The SOP states all vessels such as boats, rafts should operate with not more than 50 per cent seating capacity and distance should be maintained at all times.

People are required to submit a self-declaration form stating that they do not have any Covid-19 symptom, and that they will maintain distance and carry their own sanitiser. People aged above 65, those with co-morbidities, pregnant women and children aged below 10 have been advised to “limit their water sport activities” and “take extra precaution”.

Water sport operators have been asked to take customers in small groups by maintaining distance. Wearing a mask at work is compulsory for staff, which should be changed every six hours, the SOPs added.

The government has also allowed entertainment/amusement parks, including indoor entertainment activities and tourist places, to function outside containment zones. The tourism department will soon issue separate SOPs for the same, an official said.

The move comes two days after the state government announced the night curfew, prohibiting assembly of more than five persons between 11 pm and 6 am in all municipal corporations across the state, in the wake of a newer and fast-spreading Covid variant in the UK. The night curfew is in force from till January 5.