TS: All Shops to be Open from Tuesday Except in Containment Areas

Hyderabad: All business establishments and shops in Telangana State will be open from Tuesday, barring those in containment areas, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao announced here on Monday. “Barring the containment areas, the rest of the State has been declared as green zone,” he said.

Addressing the media after a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said the lockdown would be implemented till May 31 as declared by the Union government, and night curfew would continue to be in force from 7 pm to 6 am.

Chandrashekhar Rao said TSRTC buses would ply across the State except in the State capital, where metro and RTC services would continue to be suspended. “Taxis and autorickshaws will be allowed to ply in the State but occupany will be limited to driver plus three passengers in the case of taxis and driver plus two in the case of autorickshaws,” he said. He also made it clear that there would be no inter-State services of buses. E-commerce platforms would also be allowed operate fully.

The Chief Minister said shops and business establishments would be allowed to open in Hyderabad too but on alternate days. GHMC officials would work out the modalities for this, he said. “No shops or any activity will be allowed in the containment areas,” he said, adding that salons too can open across the State. Schools, gyms, malls, theatres, places of worship, pubs, clubs, among other things, would continue to remain closed.

Pointing out that the consensus message that emerged during the day when several States announced their strategies was that India was getting back to work, the Chief Minister said the Cabinet, keeping in mind the ground situation and the need to move forward, took the decisions unanimously. “There is only one option in the absence of any medicine or vaccine for coronavirus – learn to live with the virus. There is no other choice since no one can say for sure when a vaccine or medicine would be developed to tackle coronavirus,” he said, adding that all offices in the State would function with 100 per cent staff. “There will be no restriction on work but people have to take all the precautionary measures like wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing and personal hygiene,” he added.