MUMBAI :
The state of Maharashtra, having a total of 35 districts, has been categorised into Red, Green and Orange Zones, depending upon the number of Novel Coronavirus cases in particular areas, authorities said here on Wednesday.
Being the worst-hit state from the pandemic, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray extended the lockdown, even before the Centre took the same decision on April 14.
With the highest number of COVID-19 pandemic fatalities, Mumbai has been labelled as Red Zone, apart from the 10 districts of Mumbai Sub-urban, Pune, Thane, Nagpur, Palghar, Raigad, Nashik, Aurangabad, Sangli and Ahmednagar. Strict containment measures have been put in place as the government has strategised to track the development in these districts, so as to chalk out further plan of action.
The Green-Zones include seven districts of Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Parbhani, Wardha, Nanded and Nandurbar, as no pandemic cases have been recorded at these places till April 15. However, there is a cause of concern since the Green Zones are surrounded by infected areas.
For instance, the district of Nagpur sits in the middle of Bhandara, Chandrapur and Wardha. Similarly, Nanded is surrounded by Latur, Yavatmal and Hingoli districts. The security has been tightened and strenuous administrative efforts are being made to prevent COVID-19 from making inroads into the fortresses of Green Zones.
The 16 districts tallying 15 cases each have been labelled as Orange Zones, which include Gondia, Washim, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Amravati, Akola, Hingoli, Latur, Beed, Jalna, Osmanabad, Jalgaon, Satara, Kolhapur, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri. On Tuesday, the Union Health Ministry announced Gondia among the 25 districts in India, where no new cases have been reported since the lockdown. Hence, it may moved to the Green Zone.
