In true Indian fashion, it has been a voluntary lock down highly successfully through the length and breadth of the country.
For once the only sound one woke up to today was the soughing of the wind in the pines, birds chirping, bees buzzing, dogs barking and streams gurgling by. Sounds that are so unfamiliar to young generation resounded in the hills of Uttarakhand as the state inched towards a complete lock down in the fight against Covid-19.
Well-known and iconic landmarks in most of the state’s larger cities and towns looked forlorn sending out the all powerful message that Covid-19 does not discriminate.
Leading from the front, the State administration, led by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat was amongst the first to declare a complete lock down until the end of the month. “The government of Uttarakhand hereby notifies a lockdown on non essential service in the State of Uttarakhand from 2100 hours on 22nd of March 2020 to 2359 hours on 31st of March 2020.”
Establishment providing essential services excluded from the above restrictions are as under:
Office charged with law and order and magisterial duties (District magistrate, ADM, SDM and Tehsil
Police
Medical and Health
Urban Local Bodies
Fire
Electricity, Water and Municipal Services
Banks/ ATM
Print, Electronic and Social Media
Telecom & Internet Services including IT and ITes
Postal Services
Supply Chain and related Transportation
E-Commerce
Food, Groceries, Milk, Break, Fruit, Vegetable, Meat, Fish and their transportation related activities.
Petrol pumps, LPG Gas, Oil agencies, their Godowns and their transportation related activities.
Production and Manufacturing Units which require continuous process may continue to function, after obtaining the required permission from the District magistrates.
Manufacturing units engaged in production of essential commodities.
All train services, Inter-state passenger transport suspended until 31st March exempting good trains.
At the stroke of 5:00 p.m. the hills came alive – cutting across age, caste, gender and creed people even in the remotest corners of the state rang bells, conches blew, cymbals clashed and hands came together to clap in appreciation for all the health workers who have put their lives on the line in the fight against Covid-19.
