Planning to Travel to Mumbai? New SoPs issued For Travellers From Six States including Goa

The Maharashtra government on Monday made it mandatory for all passengers arriving in Maharashtra from six of the worst affected states including Delhi NCR, Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand to procure a Covid-negative certificate to gain entry into the state.

If you are traveling to Maharashtra from Goa, Kerala, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, or Gujarat by train, then you will have to undergo a compulsory home quarantine for 15 days after arrival in the state. You will be allowed to board the train only if you have a negative RT-PCR report. Unreserved passengers will not be allowed to board trains coming from these states to Maharashtra.

An order signed by Maharashtra chief secretary Sitaram Kunte has declared states of Kerala, Goa, Gujarat, Delhi, and NCR region, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand as places of “sensitive origin”. This was done in a bid to stop the “influx of other variants of coronavirus “from other locations.

In the SOP for passengers traveling in long-distance trains from these six places, the government said the Railways shall share data of the trains that are scheduled to be running between these origins and stations in Maharashtra with the local disaster management authorities.

New SoPs issued :

• Mandatory 15 days home quarantine for all who reach Maharashtra from these states.
• All those traveling from Goa, Kerala, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat will need to carry a negative RT PCR report. 
• Passengers from the above six states will be stamped with a home quarantine stamp for 15 days. 
• Fine of Rs 1,000 in case of violation. 
• Data of passengers will be shared with the local disaster management authority each day, four hours before the departure from the origin of trains.
• If passengers are not carrying the RT PCR negative report, they will have to undergo a rapid antigen test at the station. 
• No unreserved tickets will be issued from these places to Maharashtra. Railways should ensure that trains from places of sensitive origin should come to outer platforms where it is easier to conduct thermal screening of passengers. 

Meanwhile, Maharashtra, which is the worst-hit state in terms of the number of cases and deaths, Sunday reported the highest number of 68,631 fresh infections. Delhi on Sunday recorded the biggest jump in its daily COVID-19 tally with 25,462 fresh cases.