Delhi sends 40 buses to ferry students stranded in Kota due to coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown

New Delhi: Delhi Government on Saturday sent as many as  40 buses to bring back its students stranded in Rajasthan’s Kota due to coronavirus COVID lockdown, which has now been extended till May 17.

The development was confirmed by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Twitter.

Gehlot also posted some pictures from Kashmere Gate where officials traveling in the buses were being briefed.

"Delhi Govt is sending 40 buses to bring back its students from Kota Rajasthan who have been stuck there due to lockdown. Last-minute briefing of officials accompanying the buses going on at Kashmere Gate," he tweeted. 

Delhi Govt is sending 40 buses to bring back its students from Kota Rajasthan who have been stuck there due to lockdown. Last minute briefing of officials accompanying the buses going on at Kashmere Gate. pic.twitter.com/D3okOijXHj — Kailash Gahlot (@kgahlot) May 1, 2020

The move comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday gave the permission for movement of the stranded people, including migrants labourers, workers, students, tourists, and provided the procedure for the same.

In order to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday (May 1) extended the nationwide lockdown by another two weeks. As per the latest notification, the third phase of lockdown will be enforced until May 17.

The Home Ministry made the announcement as lockdown 2.0 was coming to end on May 3. 

The government took the decision after a comprehensive review, and in view of the lockdown measures having led to significant gains in the COVID-19 situation in the country. The Union Home Ministry issued an order under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on Friday to further extend the lockdown for a further period of two weeks beyond May 4.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued fresh guidelines, under which, all the domestic and international air travel, movement of trains, metro and inter-state buses for public transport, except those permitted by the MHA, will be prohibited.

For the past few days, Prime Minister Modi has been continuously holding meetings on this issue. After talking to the Chief Ministers on April 27, and then deliberating with senior ministers and taking the opinion of experts, he decided to extend the lockdown.

Notably, 733 districts in the country have been divided into Red, Orange, and Green Zones after witnessing the rising cases of coronavirus. Of these, 130 districts are in the Red Zone, 284 districts are in the Orange Zone, while 319 districts are in the Green Zone. 

Green Zone are those districts where no case has come in the last 21 days. 

Red Zone is where cases are constantly coming up. Red Zones are determined by how many active cases are in those areas, how many cases are doubling in how many days, how much testing is happening, and what is the feedback. 

The areas that are neither in the Green Zone nor in the Red Zone are placed in the Orange Zone.