Maharashtra govt sets 7-11 am timing for grocery, food shops and more

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday directed all food, grocery, confectionaries and similar establishments in the state to operate only between 7 am and 11 am, reported news agency ANI.

“All groceries, vegetable shops, fruit vendors, dairies, bakeries, confectionaries, all type of food shops, shops related to farm produce, pet food shops, shops related to materials for impending rainy season for individuals/orgs to be open only b/w 7 to 11 AM”, ANI quoted the state government as saying.

“Home delivery from the said shops however may be allowed between 7 AM to 8 PM. These timings however may be changed by the local authority”, it further quoted the government as saying in a notification.

The release, however, notes that the list of essential services can be modified by local disaster management authorities, who in turn would have to acquire consent for the same from the state disaster management authority.

“The local disaster management authorities to include any additional entities/services as essential under Section (2) of the order dated 13th April, 2021 only after the consent of the State Disaster Management Authority”, the directive stated.

The first ‘Oxygen Express’, a train containing seven empty oxygen tankers, left Mumbai for Visakhapatnam on Monday to get filled with liquid oxygen and brought back to the state to treat COVID-19 patients. 

Maharashtra, on Tuesday, was also included in a list of 10 states accounting for 77.67% of new COVID-19 infections reported in a day.

The list includes – apart from Maharashtra – Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

state-wide night curfew was announced in Maharashtra on March 28 in view of COVID-19 spike in the state in recent weeks.