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In the wake of the rising Covid-19 cases due to the fast-spreading Omicrpon variant of the Coronavirus, the West Bengal government has announced a fresh set of curbs in the state capital Kolkata and across the rest of the state as well. The new set of restrictions comes into effect from Monday, January 3, 2022. This impacts the travel and transport sectors as well.
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As per the mandate announced by the state government, the movement of people and vehicles will;l be prohibited between 10 pm to 5 am. Only essential and emergency service vehicles will be permitted to ply. This means the personal vehicles except for any essential or emergency purpose will not be allowed to ply on road in the state between 10 pm and 5 am. However, between 5 am and 10 pm, there will be no restrictions, as no such measures have been announced by the state government.
Kolkata Metro services too will operate with 50 per cent seating capacity as per usual operational time, announced the state government in its fresh set of Covid-19 guidelines. The state government also announced that the local trains in West Bengal will run with 50 per cent capacity till 7 in the evening. Post that timeframe, no local trains will be allowed on tracks. However, the long-distance trains will continue running as they are.
The West Bengal government on Sunday introduced this slew of strict lockdown-like measures amid the sharp surge in Coronavirus cases in the state. The state on Sunday has registered 6,153 new Covid cases and eight fresh fatalities as well. Amid the fresh positive cases recorded on Sunday, Kolkata alone accounted for 3,194 cases, as reported by the health department bulletin. The numbers were up from Saturday when a total of 4,512 Covid-19 cases and the metropolis alone reported 2,398 of them, according to the bulletin.