Amid fear of rampant Covid-19 spread in Haryana, the Manohar Lal Khattar led state government on Monday imposed night curfew in the state from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

With this, the Khattar government has prohibited the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. across Haryana. This curfew order will come into force with effect from tonight and will remain in force till further orders.

During the Curfew timings, no person will leave their homes or will move on foot or by vehicle or travel or stand or roam around on any road or public places during the above said hours.

Giving details in this regard, a spokesperson of the Haryana State Disaster Management Authority said that in exercise of powers vested under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, there will be complete prohibition on the movement of individuals for all non-essential activities in the state between 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.

However, the movement of persons and services that will be exempt include those tasked with law and order, emergencies and municipal services, including executive magistrates, police personnel, military personnel in uniform, health, electricity, fire, media persons with accreditation and government machinery tasked with Covidrelated duties (all on production of identity card). Besides this, those who have been specially issued a restricted movement curfew pass by the officers authorised in this behalf are also exempted.

The spokesperson said that there will be no curbs on inter-state and intra-state movement of essential and non-essential goods. All vehicles or persons in bonafide transit (inter- state or intrastate) will be allowed to pass, but only after verification of point of origin and destination.

This apart, hospitals, chemist shops and ATMs will be allowed to remain open for 24 hours on all days. Pregnant women and patients are also exempted from the night curfew for getting medical services, said the spokesperson.

He said that passengers going to or returning from the airport or railway station of interstate bus terminal will be exempted. Any person violating these measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, as well as legal action under Section 188 of the IPC and other legal provisions as applicable. The spokesperson said that the country is at a critical juncture in its fight against Covid-19 and the Union ministry of home affairs, as well as the Haryana government has issued various guidelines from time to time to prevent the spread of Covid.

“However, there has been a recent surge in numbers of Covid-19 cases and therefore, it is imperative to put in place in strict measure of isolation and social distancing to contain the spread of Covid-19 as a lot of non-essential movement of people and vehicles during the night has been reported,” the spokesperson added.