What activities has the government allowed in Orange Zones?

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in its order on Friday extended the nationwide lockdown for another 14 days, till May 17, 2020. Apart from defining what would lead to the classification of a district into red, orange and green zone, the MHA has also allowed certain economic activities to resume from May 4 onwards.

All educational institutions, including schools, colleges, training/coaching centres, will remain closed irrespective of the zone. The same will apply to air, rail, metro and road travel with very few exceptions. The government has also permitted hospital OPDs and medical clinics to operate in all zones, with the exception of containment zones.

The MHA has stated that districts that are neither defined as green nor red zones will fall into the category of orange zones. A red zone will be classified as an orange zone if it reports no new confirmed case of Covid-19 in 21 days.

Taxis and cab operators will be allowed to operate in orange zones, with 1 driver and two passengers.

The inter-district movement of individuals and vehicles is allowed only for permitted activities.

Private four-wheelers will be allowed to ply on the roads only with two passengers apart from a driver.

All economic activities that have been permitted in red zones will also be allowed to resume in orange zones from May 4 onwards. These include SEZs, EOUs, and manufacturing units of essential goods, IT hardware, jute and packaging material.

In orange zones, only in-situ construction will be allowed in urban areas apart from construction of renewable energy projects.

E-commerce activities will be allowed only for delivery of essential goods.

All government offices will be allowed to function as per the norms defined for red zones.