As novel coronavirus cases surge, Mumbai's civic body BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday updated its guidelines and announced a fresh set of restrictions for this city, which is witnessed over 10,000 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
The new guidelines are in addition to the ongoing strict Covid-19 measures which include state-wide night curfew and weekend lockdown announced by the Maharashtra government on Sunday, the civic body said.
Under the fresh guidelines, BMC noted that all beaches in the city will remain shut till April 30 in the wake of increasing Covid-19 cases. Moreover, in addition to its earlier order of sealing buildings with more than 5 positive cases, BMC added that it will impose a fine of ₹10,000 on a housing society for violating its norms. Subsequent instances of violation will attract a penalty of ₹20,000, it added.
According to the SOPs issued on Monday, any housing society having more than five active COVID-19 cases will be sealed and treated as a "micro-containment zone" (MCZ).
The SOPs asked the societies to put a board outside their gates to inform visitors about COVID-19 cases in their premises and deny them entry.
The civic body said online e-commerce supplies and delivery of newspapers and essential items will be done only till the housing society office.
The SOPs said no resident should be allowed to go out without concurrence of the society chairman or secretary and the police deployed at the MCZs except in cases like medical emergencies or board exams of students.
"Any asymptomatic positive patient in home isolation shall not move out of his/her flat. An FIR shall be filed by ward officials against violators," the BMC said.
Apart from these, the other Covid-19 restrictions are as follows:
-Section 144 to be imposed in the city.
-No more than 5 people are allowed to gather between 7am-8pm on weekdays.
-From 8pm to 7am on weekdays and from 8pm Friday to 7am Monday, no one is allowed to move out in public without a valid reason. Essential staff is exempted.
-All gardens/public ground to remain closed from 8pm-7am on weekdays & from 8pm Friday to 7am Monday.
-Autos can function with just the driver and 2 other passengers. For Taxi/4 wheelers: Driver + 50% vehicle capacity as per RTO, whereas for traveling in the bus, full capacity. However, no standing passengers will be allowed inside the bus.
-All persons using public transport to strictly adhere to Covid-19 prevention norms.
- ₹500 to be levied for non-use of masks.
BMC also listed out the activities, venues that will remain shut till April-end:
-Cinema halls, drama theatres, and auditoriums.
-Beaches, amusement/water parks, video game parlours, clubs, swimming pools, gyms, and sport complexes.
-All restaurants and bars except for those inside the campus and integral parts of hotels. (Home delivery allowed b/w 7AM - 8PM)
-All shops, markets and malls except for essential services.
-Places of worship (except personnel), schools & colleges (except 10th & 12th boards), religious, social, political & cultural functions.
-Private offices except for financial services, to adopt compulsory work-from-home.
The activities, offices allowed to function during the imposition of stringent turns in Mumbai are:
-Banks, stock markets, insurance, pharmaceuticals, mediclaim, telecommunications, local disaster management, electricity & water supply offices.
-All e-commerce services & food delivery allowed from 7am - 8pm.
-Manufacturing sector can continue operations following all precautions.
-Agriculture and agricultural activities, transportation of food grains and agricultural commodities will continue as usual.
Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 10,030 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, to take tally to 4,72,33. The death toll rose to 11,828 as 31 more patients died, said BMC officials. It also added that there were 740 buildings sealed as of today and 73 containment zones identified in the city.
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