New Delhi: On Thursday, the Delhi government lifted the capital’s weekend curfew, along with the odd-even rule for shops. The reopening of school will be considered at the next meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Administration (DDMA).
An official said that the government has also allowed weddings with fewer than 200 people and 50% of the occupancy. The 50% occupancy rule also applies to bars, restaurants, cinemas and government offices.
Delhi LG Anil Baijal on January 21 has rejected the proposal sent by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and suggested that the status quo regarding the weekend curfew and market opening in the country’s capital should be maintained.
The government had proposed to lift the weekend curfew, revoke the odd-even system for opening of shops, and allow private offices to run with 50 percent staff in the city.
The proposal to ease the restrictions was taken in view of a declining number of Covid19 cases in the city. State health minister Satyendar Jain had earlier this month said Delhi’s third wave peak is “likely over”.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta had too written to the LG and requested to end the ongoing weekend curfew and the opening of
shops on an odd-even basis.
Gupta also demanded that restaurants and gyms should be allowed to operate at 50% of their capacity.
He added that the restrictions currently in place have taken a toll on trading activity and caused traders to suffer huge losses.
In a letter to Baijal, the Delhi BJP chief has also said that “thousands of people working in commercial establishments,
besides merchants, are facing pay cuts and salaried workers are losing their income completely.” Gupta noted that Delhi’s public transport service, which operates at full capacity, is not reporting specific infections.
“I request that (Anil Baijal) immediately convene a DDMA meeting to consider the orderly lifting and restrictions of
the odd-even system for the market in conjunction with the lifting of the weekend curfew,” he said