Bihar will be under lockdown from Thursday. The state government took the decision after a spike in the number of coronavirus disease cases.

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Police barricades at 1, Anne Marg, the official residence of the Bihar chief minister, in Patna on Wednesday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The lockdown will be in place till July 31.

A government order on Tuesday, announcing the lockdown, said that restrictions will remain applicable to all district, sub-division and block headquarters and municipal areas.

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The services and institutions which will be impacted:

• Government offices, private and commercial establishments, barring some exceptions and educational institutions will remain closed during this period.

• As per the government order, transport services “will remain suspended” during the lockdown period. State capital Patna has been put under severe curbs. No transport sevice will be available in the city’s 114 localities. The district administration has said that the vehicles of those autorickshaw drivers who are found violating the orders will be impounded.

• Places of worship will also remain closed. Only priests will be allowed to enter the premises for daily rituals. These temples and places of worships can’t hold any festival within their premises.

• The owners of motor garages and mobile repairing shops will have to take permission fromnthe administration before opening their establishment. Those within or in the vicinity of a containment zone won’t be allowed to operate.

What remains open:

• Industrial establishments will be allowed to function and construction activities will be permitted with strict adherence to social distancing norms and wearing of masks.

• Agricultural activities, along with shops relating to the same, will also be allowed to function.

• Those plying their vehicles for commuting to and from their places of work will be required to carry their identity cards.

• Taxis and autorickshaws will be allowed but at local level.

• Hotels and restaurants will remain open.

The order passed by a special secretary to the state government “supersedes all orders issued by district magistrates concerned in their respective area of jurisdiction” and the DMs “cannot dilute restrictions but, based on their assessment of the situation, may prohibit certain activities in areas outside containment zones”.

Lockdowns have been in place in nearly a quarter of the state’s 38 districts, for the past few days, clamped by the local administrations.

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