Maharashtra minister adds to Unlock chaos, wrongly announces relaxations for 18 districts

Minister Vijay Wadettiwar’s announcement had put Mumbai in Level 2, which meant restrictions with 50 per cent opening of some services. Pic/Ashish Raje

Adding to the lock-unlock chaos on Thursday, a senior cabinet minister jumped the gun, apparently without getting a nod from Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Vijay Wadettiwar's announcement of completely unlocking 18 districts in Maharashtra from Friday was reversed, but not before it caused confusion and revealed a lack of coordination between the government departments.

A woman shops at a shop selling non-essentials in Dadar on Tuesday. Pic/Ashish Raje

In a dramatic turn of events, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Wadettiwar made the announcement of completely unlocking 18 districts from Friday, based on their dipping test positivity rate (TPR) and availability of more oxygen beds. He said that a five-level unlocking will be applicable where districts falling under Level 1 will be unlocked completely, followed by others getting comparatively less or no relaxations. He said that Mumbai was in Level 2 while Thane in Level 1. Wadettiwar made the announcement after a meeting of the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) which discussed all possibilities of unlocking. Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar were also present at the meeting.

Also Read: Covid-19: Mumbai's doubling rate hits 500 days

The decision was rolled back, apparently at the behest of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who wanted a thorough review before taking a final call. Thackeray had earlier extended the curbs till June 15. Officially, the SDMA recommendations are referred to the CM and chief secretary, who issued the final order.

Still under consideration

"The decision is still under consideration. The restrictions haven't been lifted," said a statement released by the state's publicity department. "The relaxation will be decided in view of the severity of the mutated virus and growing infection in some rural areas. Under the Break the Chain programme, some relaxations have been given, but for proceeding further the disaster management has decided five categories on the basis of weekly positivity rate and occupancy of oxygen beds. The decision, if any, will be announced officially through a government notification," the statement said.

Minister's declaration

Earlier in the day, Congress's Wadettiwar told a media conference that 18 districts with a TPR of 5 per cent and less, including Thane, will have no curbs. Districts with the lowest positivity rate will have no restrictions, he said.

Districts falling under the five levels were to be reviewed every week and moved up and down based on the number of cases.

The minister had said that Level 1 districts were to see restaurants, malls, shops and public places reopening. Offices, gyms were to reopen. Aurangabad, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Jalgaon, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Yavatmal, Washim, Wardha, Parbhani and Thane fell under Level 1, he had said.

Level 2 districts were to operate partially with gyms, salons, beauty parlours functioning at 50 per cent occupancy. Districts in Level 3, 4 and 5 were to have more restrictions.

In-principle approval: Wadettiwar

Wadettiwar, who was on a Nagpur-bound plane when the CMO acted, said on his arrival that the decision he announced was given in principle approval by SDMA. "CM and Deputy Chief Minister were there in the meeting," he said, adding that the CM would make a final announcement. However, he did remind that the government shouldn't be enforcing lockdowns, but giving relief to the people. He added, "Perhaps I forgot to mention the in principle point during the conference earlier in a hurry. Final decision is expected on Friday morning."

BJP slams govt

Opposition leader in the legislative assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, said there was no way to know what was shut and open. "If it is open, where is it? If it is open, till when will it be?" he said, while also questioning if a press conference or press release was authentic. "Is it immaturity or claiming the credit?" he said.