UP govt halts construction work scheduled to resume on April 15 as lockdown extends

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya announced on Tuesday that the decision to resume construction work from April 15 has been delayed with immediate effect, in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown extension. 

The UP Government will hold another committee meeting with the Principal Secretaries of all construction departments, to decide the next date for resuming work, KP Maurya added. 

The announcement came shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation, announced that the nationwide lockdown, which began on March 24, will be extended further till May 3. Earlier, the 21-day lockdown was scheduled to end on April 15. The decision to extend the lockdown was taken after a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in India. 

Uttar Pradesh was the first state to permit construction work on Government projects to resume from April 15. The decision, however, comes to a standstill, as the lockdown has been extended. 

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KP Maurya urges people to follow the lockdown 

The Deputy Chief Minister also appealed to the people to obey the lockdown extension, stating that the decision is in favour of the citizens. He also urged people to cooperate with the government by following the seven tasks put forth by PM Modi, in order to fight Coronavirus. 

Noting that the COVID-19 cases have increased tremendously in the country, KP Maurya said it is crucial that we follow the strict guidelines laid by the government. He also urged people to cooperate with all the workers fighting the disease on the frontline. 

Currently, as per updates from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 796 cases were reported on Monday taking the total toll to 9,152 cases. While 308 deaths have been reported due to Covid-19, 1,035 have been recovered.

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