Weekend lockdown: Noida, Ghaziabad await government order on border curbs

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: After a weekend of chaos due to restrictions on movement of people across state borders, there is apprehension about what will happen in the next weekend. The NCR administrations are still undecided on border movement during subsequent weekends when UP goes into lockdown.
Officials in Noida said that while the imposition of weekend lockdown has been decided, the government is yet to take a call on specific details for inter-state or inter-district travel.“We are waiting for the state government order and will take a decision based on the same,” said Suhas LY, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate.
The Ghaziabad district administration did not introduce any additional passes this weekend for travel. Officials said that most essential and health-related services were already allowed, while only personal travel or movement for offices had been restricted.
However, the residents of Noida remain hassled by the ever-changing norms that are hampering their movement to offices and commercial activities.
“I work in Gurgaon and have to travel daily now that the offices are all open. How should I explain to my colleagues and seniors that I just started coming to office, but can’t work on Saturdays because UP has again changed travel norms?” said Urvashi Agarwal, a resident of Sector 74. “These are baseless rules and shutting down weekends makes no change to the infection rate. Coronavirus needs to be fought medically, not through random restrictions.”
In neighbouring Ghaziabad too, residents flayed the “unnecessary border restrictions” during the weekend. The district administration, on the other hand, has not yet come out with any clear cut directions to allay their apprehensions.
“The border restrictions associated with lockdown will remain till the time the state government comes up with a government order specifically mentioning how inter-state movement will be regulated,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate of Ghaziabad. “And till the time the government order comes, office-goers will have to apply for movement passes as was the precedence during earlier lockdown.”
Kumar Anupam, a Vaishali resident, said, the government needs to come out with some mechanism to facilitate the inter-state movement. “At a time when we are talking about Unlock 2.0, inter-state movement restrictions for people like us who have to go to offices on Saturdays becomes a big problem. There has to be some mechanism devised by the district administration, which would facilitate our movement instead of hampering it.”
Though the weekend lockdown has been announced and shops and commercial establishments are allowed to remain open on working days, Ghaziabad is still following alternate day opening of shops. “So, if we have to change this, we will need a clear cut government order on it, which I hope will be released by the state government well before the second weekend lockdown,” said Pandey.