As parts of India stirred to life on Monday amid a conditional easing of the lockdown, confusion prevailed in Delhi and NCR on how to regulate the surge of people and traffic caused by absence of clarity on aspects such as who among the junior central government workforce would constitute one-third of the office turnout allowed on a given day.
The attendance conundrum compelled police to permit movement solely on the basis of employee identity cards, resulting in even those not supposed to attend office moving around freely. Traffic in the New Delhi Municipal Council area and on roads along the CGO complex, where most central government offices are located, was heavier than expected despite strict checking at multiple points.
In Gurgaon, classified as a Covid-19 "red zone", there was some chaos at NHAI project sites after workers gearing up to resume work were stopped by police. The NHAI had asked its contractors to resume work on Monday with whatever workforce was available at these sites, subject to compliance with Union home ministry guidelines on social distancing and other safety protocols. Police officials, however, said separate permission was required from the administration since Gurgaon was in the red zone.
UP appeared to handle the first-day challenges better, with several road projects like the Purvanchal, Bundelkhand and Gorakhpur Link expressways resuming after almost a month. The state government has lifted curbs on 11 industries for now.
In Mumbai, the entire Thane district being declared a containment zone on Sunday ensured that all Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) estates spread across Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali, Ambernath and Murbad remained shut on Monday. Raigad district, where the Taloja industrial estate is located, saw mainly industries producing medicines and packaging material being permitted to open. Around 35 units have been granted permission to resume operations.
Across Kerala – in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Alappuzha and Wayanad districts, all of them classified as either "green" or "orange" zones – lockdown rules were eased for businesses to breathe again. But with the Centre advising the state government against an all-out resumption. Restaurants that had been allowed to resume dine-in from Monday were hastily shut. Salons met the same fate.
In Gujarat out of 500,000 micro small and medium enterprises and large units, only about 6,000 units resumed work on Monday. The state government has allowed industrial and commercial activity to start after almost a month of lockdown.
