In Unlock 4.0, West Bengal sticks to its September lockdown plans

KOLKATA: The Bengal government said on Monday that it would stick to its pre-announced state-wide “complete lockdown” plan in September: on the 7th, 11th and the 12th.
The government’s order puts to rest all speculation after the Centre’s new Unlock 4.0 guidelines, in which states had been asked not to impose lockdown outside containment zones “without prior consultation with the Centre”. “We have maintained all protocol,” said a senior Nabanna official.

The state has allowed unlocking of Metro Rail services in a graded manner from September 8 and allowed open-air theatres from September 21.
The state has taken some additional precautionary measures over vehicular movement during the ‘total lockdown’ days. There is now a complete ban on transport — both private and public, including trains and flights to and from the state — on the lockdown days, even as the MHA guidelines have lifted all restrictions on inter- and intra-state movement of persons and goods.
Activities in schools, ICDS centres, colleges, educational, training and coaching centres, theatres, parks, swimming pools and entertainment parks will remain suspended till September-end.
The state government will also continue with its restriction on all types of gatherings and congregations — social, religious and political — whereas the MHA has relaxed the ceiling to 100 for such events. The state has left it to district magistrates to enforce even stricter containment measures, if needed.
Legal experts do not reach much into the apparent “mismatch” between the MHA guidelines and the state government order, as the latter is not “contrary” to the spirit of the MHA guidelines. They also pointed to a Supreme Court ruling, in which the apex court drew a distinction between a “guideline” and an “order”. The Disaster Management Act, 2005, also allows states to draw up a state plan, “having regard to the guidelines laid down by the National Authority”. Section 23 and 24 of the act provide that states can control vehicular traffic to and from affected areas and also draw up a plan “without prejudice to the generality of provisions”.
The Bengal government did not go into a “confrontation” with the Centre. Instead, the government has been successful in “convincing” the Centre about the special measures undertaken in Bengal to break the Covid chain, when the pandemic graph is still on the upswing.
State officials reported to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) that a total of 87,008 new Covid cases have been reported between August 1 and August 30, while active Covid cases increased by only 5,026 in the same period. The state’s discharge rate of 81.9% is also higher than the national rate of 76.6%. In August, Bengal’s Covid fatality rate also dropped below 2% for the first time, recording 1.9% on Sunday. On August 1, it was 2.2%.