City likely to reopen cinemas after Oct 15; schools unlikely

New Delhi: Keeping with the Centre's Unlock 5 guidelines, Delhi is likely to throw the doors of cinema halls here open once again after they were shut for over six months, owing to the pandemic, according to a senior official of the Delhi government aware of developments. While the Wednesday order issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority said that a status quo should be maintained with respect to restricted activities till October 31, it added that the situation may be revised as per further orders issued before that date.

However, as for schools and coaching centres, the Education department of the Delhi government is yet to take a final call on it. Physical attendance of students in schools cannot be made mandatory, an official in the department said.

"Parents and other stakeholders need to be consulted. It is unlikely that schools will start functioning as before as several of our students have gone back to their hometowns and are attending online classes from there." Schools in the city have been directed to remain closed till October 5 according to a previous order issued by the state government.

In a survey conducted by a social media platform, as many as 71 per cent of Indian parents and grandparents said they won't send their child or grandchild to schools even if the central and state governments order schools to reopen.

According to a survey, by community social media platform LocalCircles, more than 14,500 responses were received across 217 districts in the country. Of the respondents, 61 per cent of the parents were from Tier-1 districts, 21 per cent from Tier-2 districts and 18 per cent from Tier-3, Tier-4 and rural districts. Of the total, 68 per cent of the respondents were men while 32 per cent were women.

Another official at the Delhi Secretariat said that the state government had sent a proposal to keep all weekly markets in all the zones open but the LG turned it down and only allowed two weekly markets to be held per day per zone. Prior to the latest order, only one weekly market was allowed to open in each zone per day.

"It has also been decided that opening of two weekly markets per day per zone in all three municipal corporations/ New Delhi Municipal Council/Delhi Cantonment Board may be allowed instead of one weekly market per day per zone," the order mentioned.

A senior official said that swimming pools may be allowed to function after another meeting to review the situation. Meanwhile, the order which was issued on Wednesday by Delhi chief secretary Vijay Dev has allowed social functions like marriages with 100 guests and funerals with 20 people but in a restricted manner. The DDMA is chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal with its vice-chairperson as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev and other senior officials.

The Union home ministry on Wednesday said that multiplexes, theatres and

cinema halls outside of containment zones can function after October 15 but they cannot operate beyond 50 percent capacity.