Prohibitory Orders in Lucknow Extended Till Dec 1 in View of Upcoming Festivals, Protests

The Lucknow Police Commissionerate on Wednesday said that prohibitory orders in the state capital will now be extended till December 1 in view of upcoming festivals during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement issued here, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Lucknow Naveen Arora said that section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in the city on October 15 and it was in place till November 25.

The prohibitory orders, which prevent assembly of five or more people at one spot, have been extended till December 1 keeping in view Sufi festival Gyarvi Shareef on November 27 and Kartik Poornima/Gurunanak Jayanti on November 30. The prohibitory orders have been extended after revised restrictions imposed by the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday and due to the possibility of protests by political parties and other people.

According to the revised orders, fifty per cent of the capacity of an indoor place, be it a hall or a room (outside containment zones), but not exceeding 100 people, has been allowed in case of any social, religious, cultural, sports, educational, entertainment and political programme or wedding. Earlier, 200 people were allowed in a hall, room or any indoor place. Similarly in the case of outdoor programmes, less than 40 per cent of the area of the venue will be allowed to be occupied by people. However, in both the scenarios, guidelines regarding use of face masks, sanitisers, thermal scanning and social distancing remain in place.