Gujarat To Follow Maharashtra model? in containing the Covid spike

By: Vipulesh Vaidya

Rupani’s big announcement on the issue of imposing lockdown in Gujarat comes after Gujarat High Court’s rap.

What did CM Vijay Rupani said in Surat?

When CM was speaking in Surat he said that the issue directed by the Gujarat High Court has come to the notice of the channels. We have also spoken to our Advocate General Kamal Trivedi. After receiving the report from them, we will discuss in the meeting of the core group and then make the right decision. Nothing can be said right now.

@vipulbv

Mumbai: As Corona cases are on the rise in Gujarat and the number of deaths due to corona is also on the rise. The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to consider imposing curfew in the state for three-four days and on weekends that is on Saturday and Sunday.

It may be recalled that Maharashtra last week has already announced the imposition of weekend curfew and now Gujarat may follow the suit. 

Replying to queries over the issue from newspersons in Surat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said “I came to know about the issue raised by the Gujarat High Court Through news channels. We have also spoken to our Advocate General Kamal Trivedi. After receiving the report from them, we will discuss it in the meeting of the core group and then make the right decision. Nothing can be said right now”.

He said that the government has already taken some major decision like indefinitely closing down schools for Std. 1 to Std 9. Allowing all private hospitals to treat covid-19 patients. 300 new ventilators to be provided very soon to hospitals. The government has ordered 3 lakh Remdesivir injections to treat the infected people in Gujarat. 

Earlier in the day the Gujarat High Court observed that COVID-19 cases in the state are increasing and directed the state government to take a decision on weekend curfew at the earliest. The HC also observed that there is a need for lockdown in the state to break the chain of the transmission. The court further suggested that curfew should be imposed in the state for three to four days. 

Earlier several villages and towns in Central Gujarat chose for voluntary lockdown in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the state. Lunawada, the district headquarters of Mahisagar district, has decided to close shops and business establishments for 15 days. As per the media reports, the district administration has declared congested areas of Lunawada as containment zones. 

The Gujarat government has taken the High Court’s statement seriously and said that the state government will study the observation of the High Court and the decision will be taken by the government after a detailed study of the observation and the verdict. The government has said that the decision will be taken after a detailed discussion on the observation of the Hon’ble Court at a meeting of the High-Power Committee meeting at the Chief Minister’s residence.

On the other hand, following the observation of the Gujarat High Court, speculation has started that a lockdown will be imposed again in Gujarat. With the sudden rise in corona cases in Gujarat, there was speculation last week that a lockdown would be imposed again in the state to curb Corona.

Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel had made it clear that lockdown would not be imposed in the state again as the number of Corona cases increased. Nitin Patel said that at present there is no consideration of imposing lockdown but if need be, we will take drastic steps to curb the cases of Corona.

A bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargava Karia, realizing the gravity of Corona’s condition, directed the Vijay Rupani government to take concrete steps to prevent Corona’s spread. The High Court has ruled that a three- to four-day curfew should be imposed across the state as it is necessary to break the chain of transit of Corona to prevent the spike in Corona cases. The High Court also said that the government should take a necessary decision regarding the weekend curfew so that Corona can be stopped.