Traveling during a lockdown: Are we allowed to travel in India during the lockdown period?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed the exploding number of positive coronavirus cases. Currently, the number of positive coronavirus cases amounts to more than 450. Due to this sudden surge in the coronavirus positive cases, the Union Home Ministry announced the complete lockdown of 548 districts across 30 states & UTs in India till March 31. Take a look at the list of travel rules you should know during lockdown in India. 

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Lockdown states in India

Complete lockdown- Starting with Punjab, which became the first state to impose complete lockdown, there are 29 more states that followed the same path. These states include -

Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Assam, Tripura, Goa, Nagaland, Manipur, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Ladakh, Daman & Diu & Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Partial lockdown - Some states including Uttar Pradesh (17 districts), Madhya Pradesh (37 districts), Odisha (five districts and six municipal jurisdictions) and Lakshadweep, have imposed partial lockdown in the state.

Sikkim and Mizoram are yet to announce any restrictive orders with regards to lockdown.

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Lockdown rules

Lockdown refers to an emergency protocol followed in a region, which restricts the people to leave the specified area. It indicates that you must stay where you are and must not leave the specified location.

• Only essential services will be working in these 548 districts in India under lockdown. Essential activities include going to groceries, dairies, hospitals, banks, petrol stations, pharmacy, to doctor, on a walk.
• All the non-essential activities like shopping malls, theatres, stadiums, beauty salons, barbershops, bars and pubs, etc are ordered to be shut for that period of time.
• If anyone breaks the rule, they would face the punishment of either a fine of Rs 1000 or even imprisonment for 6 months or even both.
• All states under complete lockdown have invoked sections 188 and 269 of IPC.
• Section 188 is for punishing the offender when he/she violates the orders of a public servant that may endanger their own life, health or safety.
• Section 269 is for when the infected people are not following quarantine rules. Both sections are available. 
• The private offices are expected to allow the employees to work from home.
• The central and state govt will provide relief packages to temporary workers and daily wage workers to aid them during this lockdown period.

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What is Coronavirus and why is India facing a lockdown amid the COVID-19 crisis?

 

Can we travel during lockdown? Train and airline status

• People can't travel to different states until March 31 if they belong to a lockdown district.

• The suburban train services are suspended. 

• No train services except the goods train will run till 2400 hrs of March 31. Goods trains are exempted from travel restrictions so that the essential items can be transported to every locality. 

• Suspended services - The interstate transport buses, long-distance train services, domestic flights, suburban rail services, metro rail services are also suspended from March 25 till March 31.

• Train tickets- All the passengers whose ticket got cancelled during this lockdown period will get a full refund until the booking period of June 21. 

• Airline tickets - The respective domestic airlines have started to offer their customers to reschedule their flights without any charges; however, they are not offering free cancellation.

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How to travel in India during lockdown?

A person is only advised to travel if he has some essential work. As the public transport will be running at minimal or negligible in the lockdown states, and the rail and interstate buses facility getting shut, one can only opt for a few ways to travel. Take a look

• Local buses (minimal frequency of transport will be available, with some states opting for negligible public transport measures)
• Travel through Private cars only when necessary
• Taxi or autos (less frequency of the autos, while in some states the taxi services are shut as well)
• Travel by walking, only when you are travelling to essential locations. 

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