Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Wednesday told District Collectors that the government would soon issue orders for restarting of industries in the green zones of the state. Further instructions, including the start date, would be decided after the Cabinet meeting that is to be held on May 2.
CM noted that the Centre had divided the regions based on the number of COVID-19 cases - red, orange and green zones. “Red zone has more number of infected cases. Orange has limited cases and green has no infections,” he explained and added, “District Collectors should take note of this and the district that falls under Green Zone can start resuming industrial activities, one step at a time.”
The central government had allowed cement, sago, sugar, medical equipment and steel mills to operate, he said and added that the District Collectors can allow these industries to restart their operations if they were not located in the banned areas.
Chairing a review meeting via video link, Palaniswami said in green zones, where there were no coronavirus cases, the District Collectors could allow units to operate after the government order. "All business units can be allowed to operate in green zones," said Palaniswami.
Krishnagiri is the only green zone in the state with zero COVID-19 cases. Green Zone indicates that the area has not had any new COVID-19 case in the last 28 days.
The Chief Minister said the vehicles entering Tamil Nadu from other states would be monitored strictly at borders, and added that the coronavirus spread had been controlled in all the districts barring Chennai. Palaniswami also asked the District Collectors not to hinder movement of farm produce and lend a helping hand to farmers in marketing or storage of their produce.
Tamil Nadu has 11 Orange Zones that indicate districts have less than 15 COVID-19 cases or no new cases in the last 14 days. Kanyakumari, The Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Thiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Kallakurichi, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Pudhukottai, Sivaganagi and Ramanathapuram are the Orange Zone districts. The rest of the 25 districts are all under Red Zone with over 15 cases or cases doubling in less than a four-day period. As of April 29, Tamil Nadu has 2162 COVID-19 cases and 1210 recoveries. There are 922 active COVID-19 cases in TN and 27 casualties.
(With inputs from IANS)