Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday announced that fully vaccinated citizens of Mumbai can travel in local trains from August 15.
Speaking in a live webcast, he said that those who have completed 14 days after their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine, can apply on a specially-created app for the railway pass and they can collect the same from their respective local ward offices.
Thackeray said those who do not have smartphones can take photo passes from municipal ward offices in the city as well as suburban railway stations. “Unless the vaccination is completed, we will have to tread very cautiously,” he said.
“As of now 19 lakh people in Mumbai are fully vaccinated,” Thackeray said, adding that those who do not have smartphones, can obtain the pass offline.
Currently, common people are not allowed to board Mumbai suburban trains, which are being operated only for the people employed in essential sectors and government services.
The chief minister also said that his government was considering to grant relaxations to shops, malls, restaurants and places of religious worship and a decision would be taken after a meeting of the task force on Monday.
Thackeray’s announcement came as the state has seen a drop in daily cases of Covid-19, which have been logged between 6,000 and 7,000 for the past few days. Maharashtra recorded 41,774 cases in seven days till Saturday, compared to the first week of July when 61,489 infections were recorded. There were 5,508 new Covid-19 cases and 151 related deaths in the last 24 hours, news agency ANI reported on Sunday, which have taken the tally to 63,53,328 and the toll to 133,996.
Earlier, the state government had eased Covid curbs in 14 districts with lowest Covid positivity rate. However, no decision was taken for Mumbai local trains.
On Saturday, the chief minister had said that he would take a call in few days on how can relaxations be given to more segments of people. So far, only those involved in essential sectors were allowed t