Maharashtra: Curfew partially lifted in 5 Solapur talukas

KOLHAPUR: Solapur collector Milind Shambharkar has partially lifted the curfew imposed in five talukas — Malshiras, Madha, Karmala, Sangola and Pandharpur — of the district.
The five talukas were put under strict curfew on August 13. For the past 10 days, all non-essential shops were shut and all functions and events were banned amid a spike in Covid cases in the two weeks before August 13.
Now the cases are reducing so the collector has decided to lift the curfew during the day on weekdays.
The curfew will come into effect at 5 pm on weekdays and throughout the weekends. At the start of the curfew, the five talukas contributed to 86% of the total caseload of rural Solapur.
Shambharkar said, “The citizens must follow Covid appropriate behaviour. The administration has been asked to ensure strict implementation of the order.”
Of the total 4,000 active cases in Solapur rural, the five talukas have 3,300 cases. The remaining six talukas have 700 active cases.
The cases are reported more from rural parts of the five talukas as against Pandharpur and Malshiras towns. While the active cases are high in these five talukas, the daily count has come down below 100 in each of these places, providing relief to the administration and citizens.
“Essential shops will remain open every day. Shopping malls will remain closed. Functions and events are allowed with a restricted number of attendees. The staff from all the allowed establishments must have negative RT-PCR test report with not more than 15 days old,” said Shambharkar.