Covid-19: Maharashtra announces new restrictions from today; Here’s what’s allowed, what's closed

By Lokmat English Desk | Published: April 14, 2021 09:32 AM2021-04-14T09:32:32+5:302021-04-14T09:33:11+5:30

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday announced a series of strict restrictions in the state till May 1 ...

Covid-19: Maharashtra announces new restrictions from today; Here’s what’s allowed, what's closed | Covid-19: Maharashtra announces new restrictions from today; Here’s what’s allowed, what's closed

Covid-19: Maharashtra announces new restrictions from today; Here’s what’s allowed, what's closed

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday announced a series of strict restrictions in the state till May 1 including the imposition of Section 144 from today in view of rising COVID-19 cases and but said he will not term the new restrictions as "lockdown". Thackeray, who addressed the people of the state, said the government was imposing "strict restrictions" which will come into effect from 8 pm today.

Check out the new guidelines below: 

Section 144, night curfew imposed

1) Section 144 of CrPC prohibiting assembly of five or more people at one spot will be imposed throughout the state to prevent gatherings.

2) No one is allowed to move in public place without valid reasons (mentioned below).

3) All establishments, public places, activities, services shall remain closed. This however exempts essential services mentioned below.

4) Services and activities mentioned in 'essential category' are exempted and their movements and operations will continue unrestricted.

5) Based on local conditions, local authorities will decide whether domestic help, drivers, attendants etc. will be allowed to work in a locality.

Essential services allowed:

1) Hospitals, diagnostic centres, clinics, vaccinations, medical insurance offices, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies, other medical and health services including supporting manufacturing and distribution units. This would also include dealers, transport and supply chain.

2) Manufacturing and distribution of vaccines, sanitizers, masks, medical equipment, their ancillaries, raw material units and support services.

3) Veterinary services/animal care shelters and pet food shops.

4) Groceries, vegetable shops, fruit vendors, dairies, bakeries, confectioneries, all types of food shops.

5) Cold storage and warehousing services.

6) Public transport: Airplanes, trains, taxis, autos and public buses.

7) Services related to functioning of offices of diplomats of various countries.

8) Pre-monsoon activities by local authorities.

9) All public services by local authorities.

10) Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and services designated by RBI as essential.

11) All offices of SEBI recognised market infrastructure institutions such as stock exchanges, depositories, clearing corporations etc. and other intermediaries registered with SEBI.

12) Services required for restoration/maintenance of telecom services.

13) Transport of goods.

14) Water supply services

15) Agriculture related activities and all allied activities required to ensure seamless continuity of the agricultural sector including availability of farming input, seeds, fetilisers, equipment's and their repairs.

16) Import-export of all commodities.

17) E-commerce (only for the supply of essential goods and services)

18) Accredited mediapersons

19) Petrol pumps and petroleum-related products, including offshore/onshore production

20) All cargo services

21) Data centres/cloud services/It services supporting critical infrastructure and services.

22) Government and private security services.

23) Electric and gas supply services.

24) ATMs

25) Postal services

26) Ports and related activities

27) Custom house agents/licensed multi-modal transport operators associated with movement of vaccines/lifesaving drugs/pharmaceutical products.

28) Units producing raw material/packaging material for any essential services.


29) Units that are engaged in production of materials for impending rainy season for individuals as well as organisations.

30) Any services designated as essential services by local disaster management authority.

Public, private transport

  • Auto: Driver + 2
  • Taxi: Driver + 50 percent of occupancy
  • Bus: Full seating but no standing passengers
  • All vehicles are to be sanitised after every trip.
  • Also, private transport is allowed only for essential services and during emergency.


All that will remain closed in the state:

1) All cinema halls to remain closed.

2) Drama theatre and auditoriums to remain closed.

3) Amusement parks, arcades, video game parlours to remain closed.

4) Water parks to remain closed.

5) Clubs, swimming pools, gyms and sports complexes to remain closed

6) Shooting for films, serials, advertisements to be closed

7) All shops, malls, shopping centres not engaged in essential services to remain closed

8) Public places like beaches, gardens, open spaces etc. to remain closed.

9) All religious places of worship to remain closed.

10) All barber shops, spa, beauty parlours to remain closed.

11) Schools and colleges to remain closed.

12) All private coaching classes of any kind to remain closed.

Also, for political rallies during elections, not more than 200 people can attend an event or 50% of the seating capacity of the hall.

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