Personnel fix CCTV cameras at a containment zone in Chandigarh on Friday. (Express photo: Kamleshwar Singh)
Industrial units, commercial establishments and construction projects in 14 districts of Haryana shall be given “automatic approval” to resume operations after a self-declaration online to comply with Standard Operating Procedures issued by the Union Home Ministry.
These guidelines were issued on Friday following an approval from Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The guidelines will not be impacted by the 14-day extension of the nationwide lockdown, the government said. “The relaxations stand intact,” said Anil Vij, Haryana’s Home and Health Minister.
The guidelines will be applicable only to units outside containment zones in the districts of Ambala, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mahendragarh, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa and Yamunanagar.
“Automatic self-generated approvals would be accorded within moments of applications being submitted on the portal as per the norms,” the state government said.
Industries, commercial establishments and construction projects employing less than 10 workers need not apply to the state government for permission and may resume operations subject to adherence to social distancing norms and other requirements in the Union Home Ministry guidelines.
Eighteen of the 22 districts in Haryana are in the orange zone according to the circular issued by Health Ministry on Thursday. Faridabad and Sonipat are in the red zone, and Mahendragarh and Rewari are in the green zone.
The guidelines issued Friday lay down that if a unit fails to start functioning within seven days of being granted permission, the approval would stand cancelled.
Deputy Commissioners have been given the authority to review the on-ground situation. They can review the guidelines depending on an increase or decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases.
If the count of active cases in any of these 14 districts reaches 15, the relaxations will stand withdrawn and all operations shut down. As soon as there are 10 active cases in the district, alerts will be sent to every industrial unit, commercial establishment and construction project that has obtained approval. The alerts will inform that the district is now five cases short of the shutdown limit, and that their permissions would become invalid as soon as the limit is breached. A reminder will be sent with every new case until the active case count reaches 15, when all permissions would end.