India / Rajasthan govt to impose Diwali-like restrictions on New Year's eve

Jaipur: To ensure containment of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Rajasthan government has decided to impose Diwali -ike restrictions on New Year’s Eve.

Chief minister Ashok Gehlot appealed to people to celebrate New Year’s Eve at home and avoid bursting firecrackers or gathering outside.

After chairing a meeting to review preparedness for the Covid-19 vaccination programme on Monday, the chief minister tweeted, “Keeping public health paramount, the state government had taken strict decision during the Diwali festival and now similar decision has been taken for New Year.”

“People should celebrate New Year with family in their house, avoid overcrowding and do not burst fire crackers. It is necessary for the health of oneself and others. Rajasthan will strictly follow the directions issued by Supreme Court for all the states regarding corona,” he tweeted.

In the meeting, the chief minister directed state officials to complete preparations for vaccination and said that the maximum number of centres should be identified for vaccination.

He also asked the officials to ensure a proper coordination from state to block level.

The state government had banned the sale and bursting of firecrackers to protect the health of Covid-19 patients, as well as to protect the public from the poisonous smoke emanating from the firecrackers. The state government has also announced a penalty of Rs2,000 on anyone found violating the order.

A senior official said during Diwali, neither was Section 144 imposed not was there night curfew, which is there in force currently.

Meanwhile, Gehlot has urged the government of India to ban flights from European countries. “The new strain of novel coronavirus emerging in the UK is a matter of great concern. The government of India must take prompt action, prepare a contingency plan to contain the same and also immediately ban all flights from the UK and other European countries,” he tweeted.

“When coronavirus had started spreading, we were late in banning international flights, which had led to a drastic spike in cases,” he said.

In another tweet, he stated, “India needs both a preparedness plan as well as steps to restrict any movement from the affected country or countries. Our medical experts must be ready with a treatment plan in case of any outbreak of the new strain of virus. Health protocols must be adhered to even more strictly,” he said in another tweet.