MARGAO
In a major development, the South Goa district Magistrate, Ruchika Katyal, IAS has directed that any gathering of more than 50 persons shall not be allowed in the jurisdiction of South Goa without the prior written permission of the concerned Sub-district Magistrate.
Perhaps for the first time, the district Magistrate has invoked the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 against those violating the order.
The latest order comes amidst a fresh surge of Covid cases witnessed in the state as well as some parts of the country, with the order saying the situation might further aggravate due to religious, sports, entertainment, educational, cultural or any other forms of gatherings.
The order, which came into force from midnight April 18 across the district, warns any person contravening the Collector’s order to be liable to be proceeded against as per the provision of section 51-60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 besides legal action under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
The organizers as well as the venue in-charge shall be held responsible for any violation of this order. In view of the rampant violations of the safety norms, the organizers and venue in-charge have been mandated to ensure all wear face masks, norms of social distancing and other Covid appropriate behaviour are followed.
The Collector stated that certain measures are required to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease.
“In my considered opinion, there is sufficient ground for proceeding under sub section (I) of section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 to take preventive steps to contain the spread of Virus. In order to contain the spread of the said pandemic, certain measures are required to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease”, the order stated.
The Collector had already prohibited gatherings by way of order dated April 7 under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The order had stated that for halls of maximum capacity up to 100, gathering will be permissible up to 50 per cent of the hall capacity or a maximum of 50 person, whichever is lower.
For halls with capacity of more than 100, gathering will be permissible up to 50 per cent of its capacity or maximum of 100 persons, whichever is lower.
As far as open premises and grounds is concerned, gathering up to 50 per cent of its capacity or maximum gathering of people up to 200 persons, whichever is lower.
Other statutory permissions have to be sought by the applicants in addition to this permission.
