As cities get adapted to the new normal weeks after the first lockdown relaxation, the centre announces the second instalment of Unlock 2.0 from June 28 to July 31 with slight makeovers. Take a look at the new MHA guidelines, interdistrict and interstate ePass rules and what it means for your future travel.

What’s new in Unlock 2.0?

The central government has mentioned in their statement that there are more activities that are about to be resumed in the second level of lockdown de-escalation aka Unlock 2.0. While containment zones will continue to follow the same rules, non-containment zones will see more relaxations in the coming days.

MHA Guidelines and Rules

The ministry has relaxed the night-time curfew — the new curfew timings are between 10:00 PM to 5:00 PM. This includes more relaxations for industrial units, movement on the highway, and cargo etc that operate mainly during these hours. The statement also reinstates social distancing rules such as not exceeding 5-member count in a shop at any particular time. This is to be deliberately maintained, reads the statement.

Will international flights be operated during Unlock 2.0?

International flights that are already functional as per the norms of the Ministry of Home Affairs will continue to operate, while others to remain closed for a while.

Activities allowed during the Unlock 2.0

The state and central government permitted training institutions will be open from the 15th of July. The DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) will be the SOP (Standard Operating procedures) for these training institutions.
Under the Vande Bharat mission, international air travel is open in a limited manner. It will further open up in a calibrated manner by the government.
There will be no restriction on interstate and interdistrict travel but the travellers will need an ePass to cross state and district borders. However, the ePass requisite varies from state to state and hence check what applies to your departure and arrival destinations before booking.
Customers should maintain physical distancing with other customers. The shops should allow only 5 persons inside the shop at a time.

Activities not allowed

Metro Rail
Cinema halls, gymnasium, swimming halls and other public places.
Social, political, religious and entertainment and other large conjugations.

Very elderly people, pregnant women and children below 10 years of age are advised to stay home as usual. While whether or not to travel for any purpose is a huge question on its own, we hope this helps bring some clarity on what’s happening around in these unprecedented times.