More on Covid-19

We don’t want tourists coming to Goa until situation settles: Health minister

Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar and West Bengal have sealed their borders for buses from March 22 to March 31. Mizoram suspended issuing inner line permits with immediate effect to stop people from outside from entering the state.In Maharashtra, restrictions on entry and exit of MSRTC buses, those owned by other state transport undertakings and private tourist buses were imposed. Goa sealed its borders with Maharashtra and Karnataka from Saturday midnight. All passenger vehicles will be denied entry and only bona fide residents of Goa will be permitted to enter. Bengal won’t let buses enter or exit till March 31.Bihar has suspended all interstate bus services till March 31. Rajasthan has ordered a lockdown till March 31 while Odisha will lock down five districts till March 29. tnnMore than 3,500 tourist buses, specially luxury AC sleeper coaches, which arrive and leave Mumbai daily, will be hit by Maharashtra sealing its borders. However, the restrictions do not apply to private cars, tourist cabs, trucks and other heavy goods vehicles.“Transport operators are requested not to send any contract carriage bus from Maharashtra for interstate operations. Also no bus should leave any station outside Maharashtra to reach the state boundary after Saturday midnight. These instructions have been brought to the notice of all bus operators within and outside state and will be strictly enforced,” said Maharashtra transport commissioner Shekhar Channe.Even though there has not been a single positive case in Goa, “considering the critical phase the country is going through, it is necessary to be more vigilant and take all preventive measures that are required to prevent the community transmission of the virus,” chief minister Pramod Sawant said on Saturday. Goa issued the transport ban a day after the Karnataka government barred entry of passenger vehicles from Goa and Maharashtra. “We don’t want tourists coming to Goa until the situation settles,” health minister Vishwajit Rane said. He also said interstate movement of private vehicles would be restricted.