No relaxation in red zones in 19 UP districts, says Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

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The Uttar Pradesh governmment has said that there won’t be any relaxation in 19 districts of the state identified as Covid-19 red zones, according to media reports.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Saturday that the government will follow Centre’s guidelines, Live Hindustan reported, quoting his remarks to a television channel.

“We are trying to turn all the red and orange zones in the state into green zones and free the state from coronavirus pandemic,” Adityanath said yesterday.

The state government has allowed the reopening of certain shops selling non-essential commodities outside the Covid-19 hotspots in rural areas during the lockdown period.

Shops selling construction material, bricks, cement, sand, iron bars, hardware and mobile repairing shops located outside coronavirus hotspots in rural areas will be allowed to do business while strictly adhering to the norms of social distancing and other guidelines issued by the Centre, Chief Secretary R K Tiwari said on Saturday.

Adityanath further said on Saturday that the state’s revenu has taken a massive hit – it used to earn anywhere between Rs 17,000 crore to Rs 18,000 crore per month but in April the revenue collection is only Rs 1,000 crore. But he said that most important thing for the state government right now is the safety of the people.

He also appealed to the migrant workers to stay wherever they are, that the government will bring them back.

The centre had announced on Friday that a “limited” lockdown which includes suspension of air, train and inter-state road travel will continue to remain in force for two more weeks from May 4 across the country, but some activities would be allowed after classifications of districts into red, orange and green zones based on Covid-19 risk profiling.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown from March 25, which was later extended by two more weeks till March 3 to contain the virus spread.