Vijayawada: Lockdown restrictions relaxed in 43 Green Zone mandals

Vijayawada: After 40 days of lockdown, several lakhs of people living in the 43 mandals under the Green and Orange Zones in Krishna district get some relaxation from the lockdown from Monday onwards as per the guidelines issued by the Union government.

A total of 43 mandals in Krishna district are declared as Green Zone and four Orange Zone. Most of the urban areas like Vijayawada city, parts of Machilipatnam, Jaggaiahpet, and others are in the Red Zone where the lockdown restrictions continue as usual.

However, clinics and private hospitals, outpatient services are resumed in all three zones in the district. It will give big relief to the patients suffering from various ailments and they can visit the hospitals for treatment. Industries and commercial establishments can be reopened in the Green Zone areas henceforth.

Krishna District Collector Md Imtiaz in a press release on Monday announced that 43 mandals are covered under the Green Zone, four mandals are in the Orange Zone in the district. Kankipadu, Gannavaram, Musunuru and Jaggaiahpet rural mandal are under Orange Zone. Most of the Green Zone areas are rural areas.

Permission is given for the construction activity in the Orange and Green Zone areas and it will be very useful to the thousands of construction workers, who lost their livelihood for 40 days due to lockdown. But permission should be taken for construction activity in the urban areas and Red Zone areas. Public transportation will be allowed in the Green Zone areas. Auto-rickshaws and four-wheeler vehicles will be allowed to ply. Besides auto driver, two passengers are allowed to travel.

In four-wheeler vehicles, two persons are allowed to travel besides the driver. But the public transportation facility is not permitted in the Red Zone areas and containment areas. So, auto drivers in Vijayawada have to wait for some more days to ply their vehicles. Permission is granted for all shops and saloons in the rural areas. All industries in the rural area can be reopened but permission should be obtained in the urban areas. There is no permission for cinema halls, religious congregations, political meetings and other functions in all three zones, the Red Zone, Orange zone and Green zone.

Collector Imtiaz has appealed to people to maintain physical distance, wash hands frequently with sanitisers and take precautions to check spread of coronavirus. He has appealed to people to wear masks without fail till pandemic vanishes from the district.