Offices, shops re-open, buses back on roads in Gujarat

With the announcement of relaxations in lockdown norms, the wheels of administration in Gujarat started rolling again, here on Monday, after more than two months of shutdown.

The government offices, including the Secretariat, returned to normal functioning. However, curbs continued for offices located in containment zones and employees residing in those areas.

According to the government announcement, all shops outside the containment zones have been allowed to operate from Monday. Sports complexes and stadia have been allowed to open not for spectators, only for sportspersons and games.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other Ministers attended their offices at the 'Swarnim Sankul' complexes of the State Secretariat, here.

Entering the SS-1 complex, where the Chief Minister's office is located, Rupani chanted the "Vaishnav jan to tene re kahiye", favourite hymn of Mahatma Gandhi. The Chief Minister and other Ministers kept 2-minute silence to pay respects to all those who lost their lives due to Covid-19.

At the Secretariat, employees and visitors were allowed only from Gates No 1 and 4 after thermal screening.

The state transport buses, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run (AMC) AMTS and BRTS also started operating, barring in the containment areas.

The dedicated state transport buses, ferrying government employees from Ahmedabad to Gandhinagar, also plied at 50 per cent strength during the day. The passengers were thermal screened by the conductor before entering the bus and sat maintaining social distance.

The AMC also declared micro containment zones in place of earlier declared containment zones, where instead of declaring the entire ward as containment zone, only the affected portions of the wards have been identified for a lockdown till the end of this month. 46 wards from Ahmedabad's 7 zones have been identified, covering 14,160 houses and 69,624 residents.

( With inputs from IANS )