Noida to tighten curbs, prune pass-holders’ list

Shalabh | TNN | Apr 24, 2020, 06:28 IST

Two doctors, who had to conduct a surgery at a Noida hospital, seek permission to enter the city on DND Flyway on Thursday

Two doctors, who had to conduct a surgery at a Noida hospital, seek permission to enter the city on DND Flyway...Read More

NOIDA: Scores of healthcare professionals, among them doctors who had to urgently see patients, spent hours on either side of the Delhi-Noida border on Thursday, pleading to be let through, as stringent curbs on movement ordered by the Noida administration continued for the second day.
There will be, however, no relaxation. Curbs on movement across the border with Delhi will get more stringent from Friday, with the Noida administration saying it will prune the list of officials and healthcare workers who already have passes issued by the Delhi or UP gover nments.
The Noida administration has also asked the UP government to explore the option of providing accommodation in Delhi to doctors and healthcare workers who live in Noida but work in the national capital so that they don’t have to travel home to Noida every day.
Passes not enough to cross into Noida
The decision was taken at a meeting of key officials of the Covid response team, representatives of the Noida administration and police on Thursday afternoon. Sources said that from Friday, the administration was planning to allow only 10% of the vehicles that are being given the green signal now. So, only ambulances, essential goods carriers, frontline healthcare workers and media personnel would be allowed to move back and forth from the district.
“I want to clarify that those involved with Covid-19 duties and services, whether private individuals or government employees, will be allowed to move in and out only after proving their credentials. Merely holding passes issued by the Delhi or UP governments or those who fall under the exempted category will not be entertained. They will have to produce an authorisation letter from competent authorities in Gautam Budh Nagar,” district magistrate Suhas L Y said.
The DM asserted that the change in rules was in keeping with the Union home ministry’s guidelines. He said the advisory issued by the Centre on April 19 allowed state governments and local administrations to decide their own plan of action on how to arrest the spread of Covid-19. But getting an authorisation letter — at a time when the administration is planning to trim the list of officials who will be allowed to cross — will be easier said than done.
“We are in the process of pruning the list. A number of government officials who earlier had permission to commute to Delhi will not be able to do so now. Only those who are urgently required in Delhi offices would be allowed to pass,” said a source in the office of the additional district magistrate. The ADM has been involved with the process of preparing inter-district passes.
The Noida administration is also readying a separate list of both government and private paramedical workers who need to commute to Delhi and back.
Debasheesh Panda, resident commissioner of the UP government in Delhi, said, “The Noida administration has requested us to look for suitable accommodation for housing healthcare officials and paramedics.”
A senior Delhi government official said difficulties being faced by people engaged in essential services while travelling to and from Noida would be looked into and solved at the earliest.