Lockdown 4.0 begins, interstate bus services to be allowed

New Delhi : The Centre on Sunday extended lockdown in India for the fourth time for another two weeks, but this time considerable relaxations have been provided to the people. In a major relief, inter-state movement of the buses has been allowed for the ease of people to move back to their native places.

In the latest set of guidelines issued by the government, it has been mentioned that the inter-state buses can come under operation if both the states give their consent for it. This also means that people would be able to drive to the neighboring state considering the guidelines issued at the state level.

Meanwhile, all other public transport options like flights, trains and metro trains will remain unoperational during the lockdown.

The Railway Ministry has also announced that there will be no changes in the operations of the trains and it will remain like it was in the lockdown 3.0. Only Shramik special trains and other special trains, which were recently made operational, will carry passengers from one place to another.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), while issuing the new guidelines for Lockdown 4.0, met most of the demands of the states, allowing them to decide Red, Green and Orange zones on their own. The classification of red, green, and orange zones will be decided by respective states and Union Territories after taking into consideration the parameters shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare based on the concentration of Covid-19 positive cases in those areas.

All schools, colleges, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls will continue to remain shut. However, the government has allowed the opening of stadiums and sports complexes but without any spectators.