A deserted Howrah Bridge on Monday. (Express Photo by Partha Paul)

The West Bengal government on Monday said the dates of statewide lockdown in September would remain unchanged and it would go ahead with imposing curbs on September 7, 11 and 12 as part of its strategy of biweekly lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The state government had announced the dates earlier, but in its recent Unlock 4 guidelines the Centre made it clear that states cannot enforce local lockdown outside containment zones without consulting it.

In the guidelines, published on August 29, the Centre said, “State or UT governments shall not impose any local lockdown (state/district/sub-division/city level), outside the containment zones, without prior consultation with the central government.”

In its notification, the state said, “In consideration of the current Covid-19 situation, lockdown in the containment zones stands extended up to September 30. In addition, as already announced, statewide complete lockdown shall be observed on Monday September 7, Friday September 11 and Saturday September 12.”