(Image source from: indiatoday.in)
With India being in its penultimate day of the 21 days lockdown, there are several states which have already announced an extension to the existing lockdown till April 30. The Centre is yet to release a statement regarding the probable extension.
There was a 4-hour long meeting that happened between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all the chief ministers of the country. Amidst the broad insights from the people, it was likely that India needs to be under two more weeks of lockdown tentatively to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.
PM Narendra Modi has shared his insights on it saying that his aim is to not just save lives but also the livelihood of the people, so the country is not experiencing further deterioration because of hunger. The majority of the states informed in the meeting that they were going to extend the lockdown.
The final call, however, is in the hands of PM who is either going to accept the extensions or impose relaxations on the same. The centre hasn’t made any announcements surrounding the extension or the status of the lockdown yet and is likely going to be made soon.
As mentioned, few of the states across the country have already extended the lockdown by two more weeks till April 30 to assess how the things pan out in the country.
Maharashtra, which is the epicentre of the Covid-19 in India with over 1500 confirmed cases has imposed the extension till April 30. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray stated saying that there might be a few relaxations in some of the areas around the state but the hot spots in the state will have stricter restrictions imposed. He also mentioned that the possible lifting of the lockdown post April 30 also depends on the situation of the state.
Aside from Maharashtra, south Indian states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Puducherry and even Telangana has increased the lockdown till April. These states have 381, 214, 7, and 504 confirmed cases respectively. All the CMs of the states have done so for precautionary steps to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread.
Some of the other states which have imposed the extension of the lockdown include West Bengal, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Punjab, Delhi, and Gujarat. These states have 126, 48, 18, 132, 903 and 308 confirmed cases as of now.
The CM of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has urged the PM to ensure strict vigil across the borders so no one can enter or cross the borders during this time of crisis. Delhi, which has the third highest number of confirmed cases, is under strict eyes. The rise in the number of confirmed cases in Delhi took a sharp peak after the Nizamuddin cluster was reported.
Punjab has imposed the lockdown on the state till May 01 and will ease the restriction based on the situation that prevails. The CM of Puducherry mentioned saying that the account of the extension of the lockdown in the state will only incur if there is the same imposed in some of the neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
The final verdict on the extension of the lockdown in India beyond April 14, 2020 has not been confirmed by the PM yet and is likely going to be done soon.
By Somapika Dutta
