Odisha Imposes Weekend Shutdown On Saturday And Sunday In All Urban Areas Of The State; Know Who Are Exempted

Bhubaneswar: In view of the rising number of COVID positive cases in the State, the Odisha government on Monday made a major announcement for weekend shutdown on Saturday and Sunday in urban areas across the State.

Addressing the people, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena this evening said that the weekend shutdown restrictions will be enforced in all the urban centres across the State from April 24, 2021.

During the weekend shutdown all activities shall be closed except the following:

• All medical establishments including hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, including medicine stores, movement of Ambulance and all medical personnel.
• District and Municipal Administration/ police/ Fire Services.
• Central & State Government officials on emergency duty.
• Telecom services.
• Petrol pumps ‘ LPG distribution, home delivery of cooking gas and associated facilities, associated personnel and vehicular movement.
• Print and Electronic Media identified by Commissionerate/ District police.
• Water Supply, sanitation and sewerage workers.
• Electricity supply and distribution.
• Movement of goods and goods carriers, whether loaded or unloaded.
• Industrial establishments, factories and construction activities.
• Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Services and allied activities, including procurement at Mandis.
• Service sector industries, including IT/ ITeS, Hotel & Hospitality units. Operation of hotels and hospitality units, including their associated offices, movement of staff and associated personnel.
• Movement of rail and air transport.
• Road transport on highways, road movement of transiting vehicles.
• Movement of Public Transport, private vehicles and taxis (including cabs by aggregators like Ola, Uber, etc.) to and from airports, railway station and bus terminals/ stands/tops, for facilitating movement of passengers by air, rail and road.
• Marriages and Funerals, with permission of local authority.
• ATMs and critical financial institutions like RBI, clearing Houses.
• Operations of Airports, Railway Stations, Bus Terminals and their associated offices, movement of associated personnel and activities.
• Home Delivery of food, groceries, vegetables and essential items by restaurants and aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, etc.
• Dhabas along the National and State Highways/ Major roads for takeaway only.
• Milk booths and related activities.
• Food & Grocery stores such as Reliance Fresh, Big Bazaar, Chilika Fresh and others for home delivery only.
• Newspaper hawkers between 5.00 am to 8.00 am only.