West Bengal announces partial lockdown, bans all political, religious gatherings

New Delhi: The West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee on Friday (April 30) announced restrictions on the state for an indefinite period of time. As per the notification released by the government, all shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and bars, sports complexes, gyms, spas, beauty parlours and swimming pools will remain closed until further notice. 

West Bengal announces partial lockdown in state

Announcing restrictions on all religious, social,  cultural, academic and entertainment-related gatherings in the state, the West Bengal government announced that markets for essential items buying will remain open from 7-9 am and 3-5 pm. 

Essential services like medical shops, medical equipment shops, grocery, etc will remain outside the confines of the embargo. 

All activities related to electoral counting processes and victory rallies/processions will be guided by guidelines already issued by the Election Commission of India, while unnecessary congregations in the neighbourhoods of counting halls will also be discouraged and restricted and will have to abide by the physical distancing norms and other COVID appropriate behaviours. It has to be ensured that crowding/lottering near the counting venue is averted. 

Violators to be booked under the DM Act, 2005

Any violation of these orders will be liable to be processed against as per provisions of the DM Act, 2005 and besides, legal action under IPC and other laws of the land will be applicable. 

The order will take immediate effect, said the notification.