UP Lockdown: Govt allows 11 types of industries to start operations

The Uttar Pradesh government has given permission to run eleven types of industries subject to fulfilment of certain conditions during the lockdown.

According to an order issued by Rajendra Kumar Tiwari, Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday, industries belonging to the sectors of steel, refineries, cement, chemical, and fertilizers, sugar mills, among others have been allowed to operate in the state.

The conditions, however, state that only the production units can be opened and that too with half of the workforce usually deployed at them in the first stage. The headquarters and administrative units of the industries are not allowed to be opened.

The factories falling in the hotspot zones will, however, not be allowed to function.

The industries will have to use thermal scanners for the screening of the personnel and also have to ensure the availability of sanitizers, masks, and water at the workplace.

The district administration and health department will have to ensure that the guidelines are being followed at the workplace, and the managers or owners will have to inform the district administration if any personnel shows symptoms of COVID-19.

Further, the units will also be given permission for transporting raw materials and availing other maintenance facilities during the period.

The lockdown, which was originally scheduled to continue till April 14, has been extended to May 3 keeping the rising number of COVID-19 cases in mind.

With 78 new positive cases reported on Thursday, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in Uttar Pradesh reached 805, according to the state Health Department.

According to the bulletin issued by the Directorate of Health Services on Thursday 17 patients were declared recovered and discharged taking the total number to 74. While 13 deaths have been reported across various districts of Uttar Pradesh till Thursday.

(ANI)

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