Himachal Pradesh relaxes curfew for morning walkers

The Himachal Pradesh government, here on Saturday, decided to relax curfew in morning hours (5.30 a.m. to 7 a.m.) from Sunday to help people take morning walk.

The decision was taken at a meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, held to review the coronavirus epidemic situation in the state.


It also decided to ease curfew for four hours instead of the existing three hours from Monday. In the state capital, the relaxation will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

According to an official statement, quoting the Chief Minister, the curfew has adversely affected the state's economy and an action plan is required to revive the economic activities post-lockdown from May 3.

Thakur said help would be provided to the people stranded outside the state. The people willing to return to the state must be allowed after following the medical protocol that included thorough examination and institutional or home quarantine, he said.

The Chief Minister said the panchayat heads must be provided information on people who had returned to their areas for implementation of the quarantine norms. People entering the state must be asked to download Arogya Setu app on their mobile phones.

Thakur asked the Deputy Commissioners to ensure norlam functioning of all private hospitals and clinics.

The state has decided to allow inter-district movement of trucks, carrying construction material from mining sites to project areas, and road construction machinery to the construction sites.