Karnataka imposes 9-day lockdown in Bengaluru from July 14 night: Check guidelines

The Karnataka government on Monday announced that a nine-day lockdown in Bengaluru (comprising of BBMP, Bengaluru Urban and Rural districts) would be imposed from July 14 (Tuesday). This lockdown will continue till 5 am of July 22 and the BS Yediyurappa-led government has imposed strict guidelines for this period.

The guidelines have ordered the closure of the offices of the state government and their autonomous bodies, corporations etc. However, exceptions (outside containment zone) have been made for Health, Medical Education, Police, Home Guards, Civil Defence, Fire and Emergency Services, Disaster Management, BBMP, and Prisons.

All the offices operating and maintaining essential services such as Electricity, Water, Sanitation, etc. BBMP and Subordinate Offices, Bengaluru Urban and Bengal urn Rural DC and Subordinate Offices will also remain open. The secretariat offices in Vidhana Soudha, Vikas Soudha and MS Building with remain open with 50 per cent strength.

The courts and offices related to judicial work will also operate as per the existing guidelines issued by the Karnataka High Court. All the offices, officers, staff deputed for COVID-19 related work, offices and volunteers of NGO's deployed by BBMP and Deputy Commissioners of Bengaluru Rural and Urban District for COVID 19 related work; and treasury offices will remain open. However, all other offices will encourage their staff to work from home. 

* The Central government offices, it's autonomous/subordinate offices and Public Corporations shall remain closed. Exceptions (outside containment zone): a. Defence, Defence PSUs, central armed police forces, and Telecommunication; b. Offices operating and maintaining essential services; c. Treasury (including, Pay & Accounts Offices, Financial Advisers and field offices of the Controller General of Accounts, with bare minimum staff); d. Public utilities (including petroleum, CNG, LPG, PNG), power generation and transmission units, post offices, Disaster management and Early Warning Agencies; e. National Informatics Centre; f. Customs clearance at airports/land border, GSTN; and M( A 21 Registry with bare minimum staff; g. Banks, Reserve Bank of India and RBI regulated financial 16/26 entities like NPC1, CCIL, payment system operators primary dealers with bare minimum staff.

* All Health Services (including AVM and Veterinary Hospitals) to remain functional, such as (outside containment zone):

a. All hospitals naming homes, clinics, labs, collection centres, Telemedicine facilities, dispensaries, pharmacies, chemist, Jan Aushadhi Kendras, home care providers and all kinds of medicine shops including medical equipment shops. b. All pharmaceutical and research labs. c. All manufacturing units of drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical oxygen, their packing material, raw material and intermediates. d. All construction pertaining to medical/health infrastructure. e. Movement (inter and Intra State, inter and intradistrict) of all medical, paramedics, nurses, scientists, lab technicians, midwives and other hospital support services. 

* Agriculture and related activities(outside the containment zone):

I. All agriculture and horticulture activities to remain fully functional, such as(outside containment zone): a. Farming operations by farmers and farmworkers in the field. b. Agencies engaged in procurement of agriculture products, including MSP operations. c. All Mandis, vegetable and fruit markets, e-marketing, direct marketing of vegetable and fruits or by industries directly by a group of farmers/group of farmers, FPOs's Co-operative, etc. d. Shops of agriculture machinery, its spare parts (including its supply chain) and repairs to remain open. e. "Custom Hiring Centers" related to farm machinery. f. Manufacturing, distribution and retail of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds. g. Movement (inter-intrastate and inter-intradistrict) of harvesting and sowing related machines like combined harvester and other agriculture/horticulture implements. 

II. Fisheries-the following activities will be functional a. Operation of the fishing (inland)/aquaculture industry, including feeding & maintenance, harvesting, processing, packaging, cold chain, sale and marketing. b. Hatcheries, feed plants, commercial aquaria. c. Movement of fish/shrimp and fish products, fish seed/feed and workers for all activities.

III. Animal Husbandry-the following activities will be--a. Collection, processing, distribution and sale of milk products by milk processing plants, including transport and supply chain, b. Operation of animal husbandry farms including poultry farms & hatcheries and livestock farming activity. c. Animal feed manufacturing and feed plants, including the supply of raw material, such as maize and soya. Operations of animals feed stalls/shops. 

* Social Sector: The following to remain functional outside containment zone--a. Operation of homes for children/disabled/mentally challenged/senior citizens/destitute/women/widows, etc. b. Observation homes, aftercare homes and places of safety for juveniles. c. Disbursement of social security pensions, e.g., old age/widow/freedom fighter pensions; pension and provident fund services provided by EPFO. d. Operation of Angawadis- distribution of food items and nutrition once in 15 days at doorsteps of beneficiaries, e.g., children, women and lactating mothers. Beneficiaries shall not attend Anganwadi's. e. MNREGAworks to be allowed with strict adherence to National Directives for COVID 19 management 

* Unrestricted movement of all types of goods and cargo (outside containment zone): Movement of all types of goods through trucks (including empty trucks/goods vehicle), railways and air. 

* The following activities still he prohibited throughout Bengaluru area:

a. Only flights and trains already scheduled will continue to operate during the Lockdown period. Flight and train tickets shall serve as the passes for movement of persons by taxis/cab aggregators/auto rickshaws to board flight and trains.No new flights or trains sill be permitted, b. Metro rail services, c. Taxis (including auto-rickshaws) and services of cab aggregators except while hired for emergency and as permitted in these guidelines, d. Schools, colleges, educational/ training/ coaching institutions etc. will remain closed. Online/ distance learning shall continue to be permitted and shall be encouraged. However, examination already scheduled shall be permitted with strict adherence to National Disaster COVID 19 Management, e. Hotels, restaurants, and hospitality services, except for housing health/ police/ Government officials/ healthcare, stranded persons including tourists and for quarantine facilities. However, hotels and restaurants shall be permitted to operate kitchens for take away/home delivery of food items only, f. All cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes, stadia, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars and auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places. g. All social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions/ other gatherings and large congregations. h. All religious places/ places of worship shall be closed for public. Religious congregations are strictly prohibited. 

* Movement of people:

a. No movement of people by KSRTC, BMTC, Private buses or passenger vehicles except as permitted under these guidelines. b. Inter-State and Intra-State movement of passenger vehicles, only in cases of emergencies or as permitted under these guidelines. The movement is through registration/obtaining valid pass through Seva Sindhu portal. c. Intra-district (within Bengaluru area) movement of passenger vehicles and buses only in emergency cases or for permitted activities under these guidelines. d. Movement of passenger vehicles to and from Bengaluru area only in case of emergency after obtaining valid passes and strictly adhering to the prevailing SOPs/guidelines issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare. e. Movement of personnel travelling with the valid ID card issued by their Organization/Institution to the place of work and back for permitted activities in these guidelines. f. Students appearing for exams can use Admission ticket as travel pass and use the mode of transport available to them including taxi/auto-rickshaw, etc. 

* Commercial and private establishment shall be closed down Exceptions (outside containment zone): a. Shops, including ration shops (PDS), dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder to open only from 5 am to 12 noon. Home delivery of essential items shall be encouraged to minimize movement of individuals outside their homes. Operations shall be subject to adhering to National Directives for COVID 19 management. b. All facilities in the supply chain of essential goods, whether involved in manufacturing, wholesale or retail of such goods through local stores, large brick and mortar stores or e-Commerce companies should be allowed to operate adhering to National Directives for COVID 19 management. c. All food processing and related industries, d. Banks, insurance offices and ATM. e. Print and electronic media. f. Telecommunication, internet services, broadcasting and cable services, IT and IT-enabled services with minimum staff for essential purposes.

As far as possible work from home should be encouraged. g. Delivery of essential items such as food, medicines, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through E-Commerce. h. Power generation, transmission and distribution units and services. i. Capital and debt market services and notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. j. Cold storage and warehousing services. k. Private security services. I. Delivery of goods by E-Commerce companies. All other establishments, wherever possible, should encourage employees to work from home. 

* Industries/Industrial Establishments (both Government and Private), as listed below will be allowed to operate (outside Containment): a. Production units which require continuous process, and their supply chain. b. Food processing industries, manufacturing of essential goods. including drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw material and intermediates. c. Manufacturing of packing materials. d. Manufacturing and other industrial establishments with access control in Special Economic Zones (SEZs)or outside municipal limits and Export Oriented Units (EoUs), Industrial townships adhering to National Directives for COVID 19 management. 

* Construction activities, listed as below, will be allowed to operate outside containment zone adhering to National Directives for COVID 19 management: a. Continuation of works in construction projects, where workers are available on site and no workers are required to be brought in from outside (in situ construction). 

* Containment Zones: a. In the Containment Zones, only essential activities shall be allowed. There shall be strict perimeter control to ensure that there is no movement of people in or out of these zones. except for medical emergencies and for maintaining the supply of essential goods and services. 

b. In the Containment Zones, there shall be intensive contact tracing, quarantine watch, house-to-house surveillance, home isolation watch and other clinical interventions, as required. 

* Commissioner BBMP, Police Commissioner, Bengaluru, Deputy Commissioners of Bengaluru Urban and Bengal Rural districts based on their assessment of the situation, may prohibit certain other activities in the various zones, or impose such restrictions as deemed necessary. 

* National Directives for COVID-19 Management: National Directives for COVID-19 Management. as specified in Annexure 1, shah continue to be followed in Bengaluru Area 

* Protection of vulnerable persons: Persons above 65 years of age, persons with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years shall stay at home, except for essential and health purposes.

* Use of Aarogya Setu: a. Aarogya Setu enables early identification of potential risk of infection, and thus acts as a shield for individuals and the community, b. With a view to ensuring safety in offices and workplaces, employers on best effort basis should ensure that Aarogya Setu is installed by all employees having compatible mobile phones, c. BBMP and District authorities may advise individuals to install the Aarogya Setu application on compatible mobile phones and regularly update their health status on the app. This will facilitate timely provision of medical attention to those individuals who are at risk. 

* Strict enforcement of the guidelines: a) BBMP, Bengaluru Urban and Bengalum Rural Districts shall not dilute these guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act. 2005, in any mariner, b) The Commissioner, BBMP, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, Deputy Commissioners of Bengaluru Urban and Bengaluru Rural districts and Superintendent of Police, Bengaluru Rural district shall strictly enforce the above measures. c) In order to implement these measures. the BBMP Commissioner will deploy Executive Magistrates as Incident Commanders in the respective local jurisdictions. The Incident Commander will be responsible for the overall implementation of these measures in their respective jurisdictions.