1. Police Invoke Section 144; Say Tour Operators Can’t Take Bookings
The Mumbai Police on Sunday, as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of COVID-19, invoked section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and issued an order restricting private tour operators from organising any tours to any domestic or foreign destinations. The police have also advised Mumbaiites against public gatherings.
Section 144 of CrPC empowers police to take our certain orders. However, the order is limited to tour operators. It is not applicable to the general public, as in case of curfews or violence. The police and government are discouraging public gatherings as a preventive measure, but there is no order for any action against it. The order against tour operators will be in place till 31 March and anyone violating the order will be booked and arrested under section 188 of the IPC for causing danger to human life, health or safety, etc.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Discharged From Isolation Ward, Woman Says Better Facilities Needed
A 23-year-old woman who was discharged from Kasturba hospital’s isolation facility after testing negative for coronavirus on Sunday complained of unclean washroom space, and of dirty bedsheets that were not changed after one patient replaced another.
“The western toilet seat was broken. The bathrooms were very unhygienic and I didn’t feel like using them at all. The hospital spent its resources in fixing TV for us, but the water from toilet leaked on floor outside and that was not cleared. Only once in a day was our ward cleaned,” the 23-year-old Mira Road resident told The Indian Express.
(Source: Indian Express)
3. Mumbai-Nagpur Corridor: 60% Target for December
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is aiming to complete 60% of the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg or prosperity corridor, which will reduce the travel time between the two cities to eight hours from the current 16-hour drive, in the next nine months. According to senior MSRDC officials, around 30% of the works have been completed as of now.
According to data released by MSRDC, of the total 1,699 structures along the 701-km expressway that include bridges, flyovers, rail overbridges, tunnels and interchanges, 662 have been completed and 461 are in progress.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Ferry Service Launched, You Can Now Travel to Alibaug in 1 Hour
In a boost to the city’s water transport system, the roll-on/roll-off, or Ro-Ro, services between Ferry Wharf in Mumbai and Mandwa in Alibaug kicked off on Sunday. The service will help reduce the travel time to Alibaug, four hours by road to cover the 113-km distance, to an hour to cover the 19-km sea route.
M2M Ferries Private Limited (MFPL) along with the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) and Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) will run two services to and from Mandwa every day for a month. The services will start from Mumbai at 6am and 6pm and from Mandwa at 7.45am and 7.45pm. A spokesperson from MFLP said, “With coronavirus outbreak, we will take it slow. We plan to run six trips each day by monsoon.”
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Many With Travel History to Affected Countries Unwilling to Self-Quarantine
On 7 March, a tour operator who had faced cyber fraud came to check on the status of a complaint he had lodged at Ghatkopar police station. During the course of a conversation with an officer, the complainant told him that he had just returned from a Dubai tour. It set alarm bells ringing after the officer realised that the man, though not showing any symptoms of being infected, had come to them during a period in which he should have been in self quarantine, keeping in view the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“I yelled at the man and asked him to be responsible and not step out of the house. So many people come to the police station and he could have ended up infecting others. We took necessary precautions and, luckily, he eventually did not show any symptoms of coronavirus,” an officer said.
(Source: Indian Express)
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