Chennai: As total lockdown came into effect this morning in Tamilnadu to curb the spread of Covid-19, the State government has made arrangements for sale of vegetables and fruits through the horticulture department in about 4,000 mobile vehicles in Chennai city and in all districts in coordination with the local bodies.
Only essential departments functioned at the State Secretariat –the seat of power–and in districts, while private firms, insurance firms, IT and ITES staffs were allowed to work from home. However, banks were allowed to function with one-third of staff strength.
E-commerce services were allowed to function from 8 am to 4 pm and takeaways alone was allowed in restaurants and hotels from 6 to 10 am, 12 noon to 3 pm and 6 to 9 pm. E-commerce services like Swiggy, Zomato will also be allowed to operate during this period.
Apart from this, petrol bunks, ATM, transporting agricultural produce, goods vehicles carrying essential commodities were
also allowed.
While people are allowed to travel from one district to other for valid medical reasons and deaths with E-registration.
However, for intra-district travel for medical purposes, e-registration was not made mandatory.
Press and media, continuous process industries, industries manufacturing essential commodities and medical equipment are allowed to function as per the SOPs announced earlier.