10-day complete lockdown begins in Thane to curb the spread of Covid-19

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A 10-day complete lockdown has been enforced from Thursday in Thane and two other civic administration limits adjoining Mumbai city to contain the spread of coronavirus, officials said.

Essential services and medical emergencies are exempted from the lockdown, while inter-city buses, autorickshaws and taxis will not be allowed to operate in these civic limits, they said.

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) and Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation, all part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), jointly decided on the complete lockdown for next 10 days in view of the rising number of Covid-19 cases in these areas, the officials said.

The lockdown came into force from 7 am on Thursday and will continue till 7 am on July 12, they said.

The municipal corporations of Navi Mumbai and Panvel will enforce complete lockdown from July 3 midnight.

“We want to break the chain of coronavirus infection.

People working in essential services will be exempted from the lockdown and will be allowed to move out for work,” KDMC Commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi said.

A TMC official said inter-city bus services, auto- rickshaws, taxis and app-based cabs will not be allowed to operate.

“Medical emergencies are exempted. A patient can be accompanied by only one person in a cab or auto-rickshaw, he said.

Banks, ATMs, IT, ITeS, India Post, internet and data services and medical shops will be exempted from the lockdown, he said.

TMC Commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma, in an order issued on Tuesday, said the city will observe a total lockdown for 10 days from Thursday.

Non-essential services will not operate during this period, and nor would movement of vehicles for proposes other than medical and essential travel be allowed, the order said.

Movement of all essential goods as well as perishable items will be allowed during this period, it added.

Thane Collector Rajesh Narvekar on Wednesday said roads, market areas and other public places are becoming increasingly congested with the introduction of various concessions as per the ‘Mission Begin Again’ order.

Also, there is a lot of stress on the health system, police department and district administration. Against this backdrop, lockdown restrictions need to be re-enforced, he said.

Similar orders are applicable in Mira-Bhayandar.

Thane district on Wednesday registered 1,322 new coronavirus cases, pushing its overall tally to 34,646, the administration said.

Out of the total cases, Thane city reported 9,138 cases, Navi Mumbai reported 6,823 cases, while the tally in Kalyan was nearing 7,000.

The death toll in Thane district due to the viral infection has reached 1,094, including 340 in Thane, 217 in Navi Mumbai, 120 in Kalyan and 145 in Mira Bhayandar township.