BackCoronavirus: Govt takes stock of 13 worst-hit cities as lockdown 4.0 nears end
The 13 cities include Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Howrah, Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chengalpattu and ThiruvallurThe measures taken by the municipal corporations for the management of covid-19 cases were reviewed in the meeting
PremiumNEW DELHI : India on Thursday explored the strategy for containing the rising spread of coronavirus cases ahead of the end of the lockdown 4.0 on 31 May and the possible restoration of more economic activities with minimal risk of spreading infection, at a high-level meeting between central and state officials.
Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba and state chief secretaries took stock of the situation in 13 cities considered the worst affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic with about 70 % of the positive cases in the country, a government statement issued after the meeting said.
The 13 cities are Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Howrah, Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur. The measures taken by the officials and the staff of the municipal corporations for the management of covid-19 cases were reviewed in the meeting, the statement said.
Many of the cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Hyderabad are major economic hubs as well and key to the restart of the Indian economy after the lockdown that was first introduced on 25 March and extended thrice.
“The central government has already issued guidelines on management of covid-19 in urban settlements," the statement said adding that the highlights of this strategy include working on high risk factors, indices such as confirmation rate, fatality rate, doubling rate and tests per million people.
“The Centre has stressed that containment zones are to be geographically defined based on factors like mapping of cases and contacts and their geographical dispersion. This would enable in demarcating a well defined perimeter and enforcing the strict protocol of lockdown," the statement said.
“Municipal corporations can decide if residential colonies, mohallas, municipal wards or police-station areas, municipal zones, towns can be designated as containment zones, as required," it said.
“The cities were advised that the area should be appropriately defined by the district administration and local urban body with technical inputs from local level," it added.
The development comes at a time the central and state authorities are under pressure to find solutions for rising job losses and a sharp contraction to the economy that looks inevitable in the current fiscal. India has entered the list of top 10 countries worst affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic with 158,000 cases of infection with 4,534 deaths.
Under pressure to open up the economy, the government had allowed more economic activities in the fourth phase of the lockdown including passenger transport within and across states. In the fourth phase, economic activities are allowed in the red zones but containment zones are still out of bounds to all non-essential movement.
India has been on a lockdown since 25 March but from 21 April, limited activities like construction were allowed in rural areas and those places outside the designated red zones of infection. The government has also allowed factories and other manufacturing facilities to open with 33% of the work force adhering to social distancing norms. Airlines have also been allowed to operate on a limited scale from 25 May.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman offered a ₹20 lakh crore fiscal stimulus package earlier this month aimed at reviving economic activity and supporting small and medium scale sectors as well as a ₹40,000 crore increase in allocation for the rural jobs programme. With earlier announcements by the government, including the ₹1.7 trillion under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, most analysts put the total fiscal impact between ₹2-3 trillion in FY21. The total package, however, exceeded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of ₹20 trillion, with the finance ministry factoring in ₹8.01 trillion liquidity infusion by the Reserve Bank of India.
The announcements, however, have failed to enthuse many economists who said the absence of a robust stimulus programme may fail to reinvigorate the economy.
Thursday’s deliberations also come as rating agency Standard and Poor’s said the Indian economy will contract 5% in FY21 assuming that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic will peak by September quarter.
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