Himachal borders open for all, but registration must

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 3

Contrary to the stand of the Himachal Government to keep the state borders closed for outsiders, the Central Government today refused to give it special relaxation, paving the way for opening the borders for anyone from within the country or abroad.

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Henceforth, there will be no requirement of a Covid pass for movement to and fro the state. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had two days ago issued directives to the state to allow free entry to anyone from outside the state. The Himachal Government had urged the Central Government to grant special relaxation to regulate the influx of people from other states. The Central Government today turned down the request. Himachal was keen to regulate the entry of outsiders, as per the earlier arrangement of e-passes considering that the number of Covid-positive cases has crossed 1,000 in the last few days.

Interestingly, tourists having a hotel booking of not less than five days and equipped with a Covid-negative report, not older than 72 hours, will be exempted from the requirement of quarantine. This has been done to promote tourism and encourage opening of hotels.

As per the notification regarding Unlock 2 phase till July 31 issued today, anyone can enter the state without an e-pass. All inter-state movement will be monitored through registration on the Covid e-pass software to ensure compliance of the quarantine requirements and facilitate contact tracing in case of the detection of a Covid-positive person. Any person keen to visit Himachal can enter his particulars on this software.

All orchardists, agriculturists, contractors and project proponents will have to ensure the registration of all labourers from other states on the software. Anyone travelling by air or train can enter the state on the basis of the ticket or the boarding pass. However, the inter-state movement of public transport will remain prohibited but taxis can operate with the permission of Deputy Commissioners.

All those arriving in the state from high-load cities will have to abide by the institutional quarantine requirement, which will be relaxed in the case of death, elderly people, and children below 10 years or infants. People from other states will have to undergo quarantine. All symptomatic people will have to stay in institutional quarantine. All daily or weekend commuters will be exempted from the quarantine requirement.

e-pass no longer required

Anyone can enter the state without an e-pass. All inter-state movement will be monitored through registration on the Covid e-pass software to ensure compliance of the quarantine requirements.