Mohali eases home delivery

Tribune News Service

Mohali, March 29

Concerned over complaints from residents about not receiving grocery items on their doorstep, the district administration today issued a consolidated order for exempt categories to ensure essential goods and movement of people during the curfew imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

District Magistrate Girish Dayalan said all establishments selling foods and beverages, including fresh foods, fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat, poultry, eateries, bakeries, food preparation, general stores, groceries, karyana, pansaris, e-commerce, digital delivery, home delivery, LPG, coal, firewood and other fuels would be kept open. However, these would be kept open for home delivery only and no one would be allowed to visit these shops to purchase items, he said.

Dayalan said the order included persons (holding official ID) dealing with law and order or emergency situations, including executive magistrates, police personnel, military, paramilitary personnel in uniform, health, electricity, water supply and sanitation and other municipal services.

Dayalan said government employees put on essential/Covid-19 duties with valid duty orders by the head of the department would be allowed to move. These would include Government of Punjab, Haryana and UT employees on duty inside or outside the district.

The District Magistrate said the order also included those especially issued restricted movement curfew pass by the DM/ADM/SDM or other officer authorised on their behalf. All persons/vehicles in bonafide inter-state and inter-district transit would be allowed to pass after due verification. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other staff would also be allowed to attend duties on producing ID cards.

He said hospitals and chemist shops would be allowed to remain open 24x7, but no walk-in would be permitted. Only doorstep delivery of medicines would be permitted. Drug de-addiction centres, rehabilitation centres, AYUSH practitioners, diagnostic laboratories and veterinary hospitals had also been exempted. ATMs would also be allowed to remain open.

He said manufacturing and inter-state transport of essential supplies i.e. food items, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, medicines, medical equipment, LPG, poultry and animal feed were permitted to move. Vehicles carrying or engaged in vegetables, groceries, eggs, meat, green and dry fodder for animals and poultry, piggery feed, ATM cash vans, LPG, oil containers/tankers, home/door-to-door delivery of milk, vegetables, medicines and food items were also allowed.

The order includes agriculture/allied services, including farmers and farm labourers going to work in fields to harvest crops and cut perishable vegetables and fodder. The order also allows farm operations machinery, including combines/harvesters, machinery transport vehicles for carrying farm produce, operation of flour mills, milk plants, dairies, sale of fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides, operations related to food procurement by government agencies such as Railways and operations related to public distribution system”.

Veterinary services and supplies, home delivery by e-commerce portals such as Amazon, Flipkart, Swiggy, Zomato and Markfed, maintenance of zoo, nurseries and plantations, power (generation and transmission, operation of power plants, including renewable energy stations, solar power, hydro power and biomass/biogas) are also included in the exempt category.

All those concerned must observe social distancing guidelines. Workers and vehicles engaged for the above mentioned purposes would be allowed to move freely. Passes issued for essential supplies would be valid across the state. Passes issued by other states/districts would also be valid in Mohali district.