Queries regarding the two-day weekly lockdown in Bengal answered -Groceries, banks, markets and eateries to remain shut

Monalisa Chaudhuri, Subhajoy Roy   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |   22.07.20   :   The complete lockdown on Thursday, Saturday and Wednesday will extend from 6am to 10pm and groceries, banks, markets and eateries, which were exempted earlier, will be shut.

A government order on Tuesday listed the services exempted on the three days.

Police said anyone stepping out without a genuine reason will be booked under the disaster management act, which can lead to up to two years in jail.

The order also says movement of individuals will “remain strictly prohibited between 10pm and 5am every day” unless they belong to the essential services or there is an emergency.

Services to be allowed

Health services, medicine shops, courts, police stations, fire department, electricity, water and conservancy services, continuous process industries and those with in-house workers, agriculture and tea garden field operations, goods vehicles, e-commerce services and home delivery of cooked food, and print, electronic and social media.

No public transport

Public transport will not be available. However, some public transport may be available for people in essential services.

Milk

The list of essential services does not include milk. “There will be no embargo on the movement of delivery men engaged in e-commerce services. People can order milk online,” said an officer of the Bidhannagar commissionerate.

Domestic help

They won’t be allowed to commute. Elderly residents across the city are planning to ask their help to stay over. “There is no option but to request her to stay overnight, even if that means paying her extra. We were without any help for two months. But it is very difficult for us to manage on our own at this age,” said Rama Mukherjee, a 78-year-old resident of Ballygunge, whose only daughter lives in Bangalore.

Police role

Anyone found outside will be questioned by police and asked to prove with documents the reason for stepping out. “We will prosecute the person straight away if he or she is found to be out of home without any medical emergency and despite not being involved in any of the exempted categories of essential services,” said an officer at Lalbazar.

Violators will be prosecuted under Section 51B of the disaster management act, which deals with non-compliance of government order. If convicted, a person can be jailed for up to two years. Violators can also be booked under IPC Section 188 (disobedience to order by a public servant) and Section 200 of the CrPC, which empowers police to report an act of disobedience directly to the magistrate, who can summon and prosecute the violator.

Free to operate

• Health services, including movement of health personnel or patients by private/public vehicles
• Medicine shops and pharmacies
• Police stations, courts, correctional services, fire and emergency services
• Electricity, water and conservancy services
• Continuous process  industries like steel plants, industries with in-house workers
• Agriculture work; tea garden operations in field
• Inter-state and intra-state movement of goods
• E-commerce, capital and debt market services as notified by SEBI
• Print, electronic and social media
• Delivery of cooked food