The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has placed a ban on inter-provincial transport – which will come into effect from April 10 – on Saturdays and Sundays, it emerged on Sunday.
The restriction will last till April 25, the notification from the country’s Covid-response hub read.
“Railway to continue to operate seven days a week with 70 per cent occupancy. Ban will be reviewed on 10 April 2021 by NCOC,” it added.
Moreover, the transport of goods, freight, medical and other emergency services will be exempted from the ban.
Sindh Chief Minister’s Adviser on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab on Friday had said that the Sindh chief minister tried to persuade the prime minister to take tough decisions at the March 31 NCOC meeting.
He had said that the Sindh government has not proposed a complete lockdown. He had added that the Sindh CM had requested a ban on the inter-provincial movement of people.
He had also said that CM Murad has also suggested speeding up the vaccination process and removing the age bracket so that patients suffering from heart, cancer and kidney diseases could be vaccinated, he had added.
He had stressed that the Sindh government had been active in implementing coronavirus standard operating procedure (SOPs) in the province from day one.
Separately, CM Murad had said on Friday that the government was seeking the closure of only inter-provincial transport but not a complete lockdown.
The CM made the statement while chairing the session of the provincial task force on coronavirus on Friday.
CM Murad had said, “We only want to close inter-provincial transport and unwilling to impose a complete lockdown. The third wave of coronavirus can be contained through the closure of inter-provincial transport. However, we want to continue the port activity and goods transport in Sindh.”
The chief minister had maintained that Sindh could not solely decide for banning inter-provincial transport as a decision should be taken on the national level.
In this regard, the Transport and Mass Transit Department of Sindh had notified on Friday that passenger vehicles operating from one city to another in the province will operate at only 50 per cent of its capacity.
The decision, announced by the Sindh government, came in force with immediate effect and is binding on all passenger vehicles being used for intercity transport in the province.
“The coronavirus SOPs issued by the Sindh government will be strictly adhered to,” Transport Secretary Shariq Ahmad had said. The provincial government further said all coronavirus SOPs will be strictly enforced and those who violate them will be punished.
Meanwhile, the KP government on Friday had also imposed a ban on inter-district transport for two days in the wake of the worsening coronavirus situation.
The local authorities had said that only intra-city terminals will be opened; however, cargo vehicles and those transporting food items will be exempted from this restriction.
Meanwhile, talking to the media, Provincial Health Minister Taimur Saleem and Special Assistant to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Information Kamran Bangash had said that coronavirus cases in 16 districts of KP have increased. “We can control the pandemic by adopting precautionary measures,” they added.
The decision came after Pakistan has reported 83 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 678,165. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 14,613.
