West Bengal Govt extends COVID restrictions for 15 more days with relaxations, no local trains till Aug 31

During a press conference here at the state secretariat Nabanna, Mamata Banerjee said the ongoing suspension on local suburban train services will be continued till the end of August.

"Keeping in mind the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19, likely to emerge in September, we are not allowing local suburban train operations in the state and extending the suspension till August 31," Mamata Banerjee said.

"I know people are suffering because of unavailability of local trains, and that is why we have allowed buses, metro rail, private cars and other vehicles to ease the problem. Security of lives is more important than anything else," Banerjee said in the presser.

"We will allow local trains after vaccinating a large number of people living in the urban areas and its suburbs like Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas," she added.

Meanwhile, the government also partially eased the complete restriction on non-essential and non-emergency movements at night.

"Taking note of the public demand, we are changing the timing of night restrictions from 9 pm-5 am to 11 pm-5 am. No movements will be allowed between 11 pm and 5 am unless there is an emergency," Mamata Banerjee said.