Uttarakhand opens all its malls, hotels and religious places today

Dehradun: Uttarakhand will open all its markets, shopping malls, religious places and restaurants for dine-in from July 1. The orders were issued by chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, who added that institutional quarantine will not be mandatory for asymptomatic people travelling to high-load Covid-19 cities for compelling reasons like pregnancies or deaths. It will be up to the district administration and the nodal officer to allow these exemptions.The relaxations, however, will not be applicable for people from containment zones. Guests who have tested negative for the coronavirus in the last 48 hours will be allowed to leave their hotels, said chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
“Unlock 2 comes with a lot of relaxations for local residents as well tourists. In order to boost tourism and the state's hotel industry, we will allow guests to leave the hotel for sightseeing if they can produce a certificate saying they have tested negative for Covid-19 in the last 48 hours,” said the CM.
“All markets, shopping malls, religious places and restaurants will be open from 7 am to 8 pm in the state. The restrictions don’t apply to loading or unloading of goods (as part of supply chain and logistics), buses carrying passengers, goods carriers plying on state and national highways or people commuting to their destinations after disembarking from buses, trains and flights,” the order states.
The state government will allow people to go for morning walks or jogs from 5am onwards, given that they maintain social distancing norms and safety protocol as stipulated by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). However, this will not apply in containment zones until further notice.
The state administration also said that people will not be allowed to stay overnight in Badrinath, as hotels and other stays have not been opened there yet. Also, entry of visitors at Lambagarh is not allowed after 4pm. Chamoli SSP Y S Chauhan told TOI that people can stay at Joshimath and nearby areas instead.
Meanwhile, even as the Devasthanam Board allowed the state’s residents to take the Char Dham Yatra from Wednesday, priests of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines have announced that they will boycott “pooja” (worship ritual) for devotees. “The priests will neither perform pindadaan, nor help devotees with any ritual like havan, tarpan etc. The decision has been taken in protest against the government’s decision to start the yatra amid the pandemic against our will,” said Brijesh Sati, spokesperson of Devbhoomi Teerth purohit Haqhakukdhari Mahapanchyat, a body representing the priests.
Sati told TOI that the priests’ decision was taken in an e-meeting held among chief priests of the temples falling under the Devasthanam Board.