MUMBAI :
Maharashtra Industry Minister Subhash Desai on Thursday indicated that the state is contemplating on easing the restrictions selectively in certain industrial areas with stringent safety conditions from April 20.
In a video statement, he said that the move follows a joint meeting with officials of the industry and health department to consider kickstarting commerce in industry in the state which is virtually paralysed since March 25, even as the national lockdown has been extended till May 3.
“Areas or industries falling under the ‘Red Zone’ will not be permitted for the time being in view of the large number of cases there. The government will consider all aspects and consult the local authorities before deciding on the ‘Orange Zones’, while in ‘Green Zones’ we don’t see any problems,” Desai said.
Since it would be impossible for industries or people falling in the containment areas to enter or exit, it will not be feasible to loosen any restrictions in the ‘Red Zones’, the minister pointed out.
In districts falling under the ‘Orange Zone’, where there are very few cases, the government would consider permitting agriculture activities and local industries to resume work, but with stringent conditions pertaining to safety, social distancing, transportation and whether they can offer residential facilities to their employees on the work premises, etc, Desai said.
However, he made it clear that all this would be subject to clearance by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray after taking into account all relevant factors, the guidelines of the Centre issued on Wednesday.
Desai said that this would help those who have lost their jobs besides gradually setting in motion the trade, commerce and industry which is currently immobilized due to Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
Besides Desai, the meeting was attended by Industries Secretary Venugopal Reddy, Industry Commissioner Harshdeep Kamble, MIDC CEO P. Anbalagan, Director of Medical Education Department T. P. Lahane, NRHM DirectorAnup Kumar Yadav and other bureacurats.
