Even as the union home ministry allowed unrestricted inter-state movement of people, it gave state governments the power to regulate this mobility option with prior announcement.
The union home ministry on Saturday announced fresh guidelines for the fifth phase of lockdown, allowing for inter-state movement of people without any permit or a special pass. However, the guidelines allowed the regulating movement ‘based on reasons of public health’ and its assessment of the situation in that state.
“However, if a state/UT, based on reasons of public health and its assessment of the situation, proposes to regulate movement of persons, it will give wide publicity in advance regarding the restrictions to be placed on such movement, and the related procedures to be followed,” the guidelines said.
Over the past week, the national capital has seen a spike in the total number of cases that resulted in a rise in the number of cases in the neighbouring states. Haryana sealed its borders to control the spread of covid-19. In the course of the lockdown, there were several incidents where Haryana and Uttar Pradesh shut their borders with Delhi, causing hurdles for essential service providers travelling in the national capital region.
Delhi has over 18,000 covid-19 cases, one of the highest in the country.
Other states including Punjab and Maharashtra had also closed borders to control the spread of the virus. With air connectivity resuming last week, Karnataka is also looking to restrict movement of passengers coming from states with cases including Delhi.
