Mumbai Local Will Start For General Public When This Happens: Minister Issues Statement

Local train services will resume in Mumbai once it reaches Level 1 phase of unlocking the city. 

The easing of curbs began with the opening of restaurants, gyms, salons, and other commercial establishments as part of Level 3 of the Maharashtra government’s five-level ‘unlock plan’ but local train services in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad stayed shut.

Govt’s Hesitation

State Cabinet Minister Vijay Wadettiwar has said that even though Covid cases are on the decline, the threat is still looming as a third wave could be around the corner. 

He said that some districts are still not out of the woods with regards to active cases. 

Therefore, train services cannot be allowed to resume immediately. 

Demands have been growing by associations of suburban train commuters urging the state govt to restart railway services as soon as possible. 

Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad said that it is important that train services be restarted as the state is slowly coming out of lockdown and commuters need to travel to their jobs. 

The association had communicated with railway officials about this but they said that the final decision lies with the Maharashtra govt. 

The association has agreed to restricted timings should railways be restarted again. 

Restrictions Extended

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has extended city-wide restrictions to 2 more weeks, despite declining Covid positivity rate. 

They arrived at the decision after considering the population density, predictions of heavy rainfall and the vast numbers of local train passengers. 

Hence, BMC issued an order stating that Mumbai will remain at Level 3 in terms of Covid restrictions until cases come down to 200-300 per day. 

The 5-Level Unlock Plan

Level 1 is achieved when districts have a case positivity rate of 5% or less and oxygen-supported bed occupancy is below 25%.

Level 2 comprises districts with 5% positivity rate and 25-40% oxygen beds occupancy.

Level 3 is the stage where positivity rate is between 5-10% and bed occupancy rate is below 40-60%. At this stage, restrictions on movement are in place after 5 pm on all 7 days.

Level 4 is when positivity rate is at 10-20% along with 60-75% bed occupancy.

Level 5 involves districts with a positivity rate of 20% and above and 75%  or higher oxygen bed occupancy.

CM Thackeray has given the onus to the local administration to decide whether to ease or tighten restrictions considering the above criteria. 

Below is the comprehensive list of restrictions and its lifting according to different levels of unlocking.

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