The Himachal Pradesh government on Wednesday decided to impose night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am in the state as Covid cases continue to witness an upward trend in the last two days.

A state government official said the decision was taken in the Cabinet meeting held here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in which Covid situation in the state was reviewed.

“The Cabinet decided to impose some restrictions in the wake of an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state and now, night curfew will come into effect from 10 pm to 5 am throughout the state.

Besides, indoor sports complexes, cinema halls, multiplexes, stadia, swimming pools, gyms, langers etc will remain closed and only 50 per cent gathering of the indoor capacity including marriage palaces, banquet halls etc will be allowed,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that the number of Covid-19 cases had increased to 864 as on 4 January from 474 cases on 1 January with 137 and 260 cases reported in the state on 3rd and 4th January respectively.

The official stated that the Cabinet gave its consent to award upgradation, operation and management of Culture Centre of Tourism Development at Baragran in Manali area of Kullu district to successful bidder M/s Maya Digital Media Pvt Ltd Mumbai-Deepa Roshan Lal Sahi (Consortium). This newly created facility would add leisure tourism to the itinerary and would emerge as an art and craft hub for the artisan of the state.

In order to transform the transport sector for the development of safe, resilient and high standard transport infrastructure besides facilitating green growth while strengthening the State Level Transport and Logistics institutions and improving connectivity and enhancing mobility, the Cabinet gave its approval to convert HP Road and other Infrastructure Development Corporation (HPRIDC) into a Public Limited Company.

The Cabinet also gave its nod for MoU between the Himachal Pradesh government and the Haryana government related to construction of Adi Badri Dam on river Som and its linkage with the Saraswati river.

The Cabinet decided to regularize the services of part-time water carriers of the Education department who have completed 11 years of services (7 years as part-time and four years as daily wagers) as on 30 September 2021 which would benefit 1782 water carriers.

The Cabinet also decided to fill up 129 posts of Junior Office Assistant (IT) in the Forest Department on contract basis.

It also decided to include Gram Panchayat Murag, Sharan and Kanda-Bagsiad of Development Block Gohar in Development Block Seraj at Janjehli in Mandi district to facilitate the people of these panchayats.