Health minister Rajesh Tope warns of a full lockdown

Caught between the rising number of COVID19 cases and street protests against the restrictions the state government is mulling a way out and to make the curbs more effective Health Minister Rajesh Tope did not rule out a blanket lockdown for twothree weeks Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has convened an allparty meeting on Saturday to decide on itShops shut in Dharavi during the lockdown in 2020 PicShadab KhanThe state has been recording the highest number of active cases in the second wave of infections Hospitals are running out of beds and healthcare staff is under unprecedented duress Since breaking the virus chain seemed to be the only way to reduce the workload on hospitals and COVID care centres the government has been expecting restrictions put in place from April 5 will discourage gatherings of people However the curbs evoked adverse reaction from retailers traders the unorganised workforce the opposition BJP and the Congress which wants all shops open One of tradersrsquo associations said on Friday that after having discussed the issue with Thackeray it was decided to open even nonessential shops from Monday But it seems they will have to wait for the governmentrsquos fresh orderA leather goods manufacturing unit at Dharavi shut in the lockdown in 2020 PicShadab KhanThe hints of a blanket lockdown came on Friday from health minister Tope and opposition leader in the upper house Pravin Darekar Tope said the state needed a complete lockdown of twothree weeks to contain the spread and improve health infrastructure ldquoA blanket lockdown can be imposed when the situation demandsrdquo he said without forgetting to add that the state was doing its best to arrest the spikeDarekar said the CM wanted to arrive at a harsh decision on Friday itself ldquoI participated in a meeting which decided to postpone the public service commission examination to be held on April 11 The discussion shifted to making the restrictions stricter and it seemed the CM wanted us to approve of a complete lockdownrdquo said Darekar adding that he suggested to the CM to not take hasty decisions and invite leaders especially from the BJP to the meeting tomorrow wherein they could discuss all possibilitiesPreviously Thackeray had taken exCM Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray into confidence before imposing the current measures Later Fadnavis said that the BJPrsquos nod was misused to impose lockdownlike restrictions even on weekdays thus creating resentment among the people who were denied their livelihood He said the BJP had agreed only for a complete lockdown on weekends Early this week Raj Thackeray pointed out certain shortcomings in the restrictions imposed He advised his cousin to make amends to allow people to make ends meetWhat the BJP wantsDarekar said the BJP could support a total lockdown only if the state government gave traders retailers other businesses and the unorganised workforce financial relief ldquoRelaxation in duties and taxes license fees and some other perks should be given to them We also demand that the unorganised workforce be given R 5000 for the lockdown periodrdquo he said after submitting a memorandum to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari seeking relief for traders and workers ldquoThe Governor is the statersquos constitutional head The CM is confused We urged the governor to instruct the government to do the needful for the affected peoplerdquo said Darekar