India entered unlock 6.0 on Sunday with a handful of states opening up for more activities outside containment zones. Earlier this week, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had stated that there would be no further relaxations and the Unlock 5.0 guidelines issued last month would remain in force till November 30.
Since the ‘Unlock’ process started in the country from June 1, activities such as opening of restaurants, cinema halls, gyms, malls, schools, swimming pools, religious places and metro rail services have been allowed in a calibrated manner with strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place.
From November 1, buses in Delhi will ply with full capacity and Western Railways will run additional local trains in Mumbai. Interstate bus services to and from Delhi are also likely to open from today.
Apart from these, Goa will open its casinos, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Uttar Pradesh will be thrown open for tourists, Kaziranga National Park in Assam will resume elephant safari and Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir will allow more pilgrims – starting from today.
Delhi buses to run in full capacity
Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot had said on Saturday that passengers will be allowed to occupy all seats of DTC buses from November 1. As per the revised order, it is mandatory for commuters to wear face masks during travel and no passengers will be allowed to stand in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster scheme buses. The travellers, however, have been asked to maintain physical distancing.
610 more local train services to run in Mumbai
A total of 610 more local train services — 314 Central (CR) and 296 Western Railway (WR) — will run from Sunday, pushing the overall number of suburban train services in operation to 2020. Before the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed, the railways operated 3,141 suburban services — 1,774 CR and 1,367 WR.
Casinos in Goa
Casinos in Goa will reopen from Sunday with 50% capacity, seven months after they were shut due to coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said that the decision was taken with a view to “promote tourism activity in the state.”
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR), one of the prominent wildlife reserves located in Uttar Pradesh, will reopen from Sunday.
“Strict Covid protocols for the tourists as well as those visiting Dudhwa Tiger Reserve have been imposed this season starting November 1. Any violation of the protocol would be taken seriously,” Sanjay Kumar Pathak, the park’s field director was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Elephant safari at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve
The national park was reopened for tourists on October 21. But elephant safari, one of the biggest tourist attractions, was not resumed. It will start from today.
15,000 pilgrims to be allowed at Vaishno Devi Temple
Fifteen thousand pilgrims will be allowed at Vaishno Devi Temple per day starting from today. Earlier, only 7,000 pilgrims were allowed to visit the shrine due to Covid-19 restrictions. The shrine was reopened on August 16 after a gap of nearly five months.