Night curfew in 10 Odisha districts: Here’s what allowed & what’s not

Bhubaneswar:  As Odisha Government announced night curfew in 10 districts with effect April 5 as part of precautionary measures to prevent spread of COVID -19 following the resurgence, the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC)  directed concerned Collectors and Municipal Commissioners to issue orders for their respective jurisdictions and ensure strict compliance.

The SRC asked the Collectors  to impose any further restrictions or allow  activities as felt appropriate considering the local situation.

However, during the night curfew, which will remain in force from 10 PM  to 5 AM, the following activities/services  will be allowed:      

• District and Municipal Administration/ Police/ Government Officials on duty
• Doctors, medical/ paramedical staff (Govt & private), ambulances and emergency
  health staff
• Emergency workers of utilities such as electricity, fire services, telecom, water, railways and airport, transport services
• Staff of IT and  ITeS Companies on production of their ID cards
• Any person, in case of medical or other emergency
• Owner/staff of chemist shops
• All industrial units
• All construction activities
• 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/ stops, for facilitating movement of passengers by air, rail and road
• Operation of hotels and hospitality units, including their associated offices, movement of staff and associated personnel
• Dhabas along national and state highways/ major roads for takeaway only. Petrol pumps and CNG stations
• Print and electronic media identified by Commissionerate/ district police (with identity cards of respective media houses)
• LPG distribution, home delivery of cooking gas and associated facilities, personnel and vehicular movement
• Home Delivery of food, groceries, vegetables, egg, fish, meat and other essential items by restaurants and aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, OPOLFED, OMFED,
  Chilika Fresh etc.

No pass would be required for movement of above category of persons. Valid travel documents/ authorisations such as airline/ railway/ bus tickets/ boarding passes, with any ID proof shall be adequate for the purpose. Identity cards issued by appropriate authorities of the establishments shall serve as pass for effecting movement of employees of establishments under permitted activities.

Patients and their attendants/ persons requiring emergency need for movement shall be allowed to move with minimal proof of their emergencies. Officers/ staff on duty shall be sensitized to appreciate the situation of persons on the road and take suitable action to facilitate movement on
emergency needs, the SRC said in its order.

What’s not allowed  

All shops, commercial establishments, offices, institutions and movement of individuals shall remain closed/ prohibited between 10 pm to 5 am.

“Any person found violating the order will be liable to be proceeded against in accordance with the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Regulations issued thereunder besides legal action under Section 1BB of the IPC and other legal provisions as applicable,” the SRC cautioned.