G.O. Ms. No. 394, COVID-19 Lockdown Extension with Existing Guidelines and Certain Relaxations, 2021

What the notification governed

G.O. Ms. No. 394, Revenue and Disaster Management (DM-IV), dated 5 June 2021, governed activities and movement during the extended COVID-19 lockdown in Tamil Nadu. It applied from 7 June 2021 until 6.00 A.M. on 14 June 2021.

Activities permitted throughout Tamil Nadu included:

• Medical shops, veterinary pharmacies, milk and water supply, newspaper distribution and Public Distribution Shops.
• Mobile sale and home delivery of provisions, vegetables and fruits during the specified hours.
• Petrol bunks, diesel bunks, LPG supply, essential infrastructure and medical services.
• Agriculture, animal husbandry, goods transport, cargo handling, cold storage and warehousing.
• Railway, airport and seaport operations.
• Ongoing construction where workers stayed within the construction premises.
• Continuous process industries and industries manufacturing essential commodities, subject to existing safety requirements.

No activities were permitted in containment zones.

District-based relaxations

The notification placed Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Karur, Namakkal, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Myladuthurai under a more limited set of additional relaxations because COVID-19 spread had not come under control there.

In those districts, permitted additional activities included standalone provision, vegetable, meat and fish shops, platform shops, wholesale fish markets, wholesale slaughter houses, government offices with 30% staff and matchbox industries with 50% workforce.

Other districts received further relaxations, including specified repair shops, hardware shops, electrical goods shops, automobile spare parts shops, stationery shops, self-employed services, private security and facilities management services. Several of these activities required e-registration or were limited to 6.00 A.M. to 5.00 P.M.

Effect on property transactions and construction

Sub-Registrar Offices were allowed to open in every district, but they could issue only 50% of their usual daily tokens for deed registration. Property buyers, sellers and professionals therefore faced restricted access to registration appointments during the notified period.

Ongoing construction was permitted only where workers stayed at the construction site. The notification did not provide a general permission for all construction work or unrestricted worker travel.

Travel and enforcement

Inter-district and interstate individual travel for medical emergencies and funerals required e-registration. Travel to specified tourist destinations for emergencies required an e-pass from the relevant District Collector.

The Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner and District Collectors were responsible for enforcement. Violations could result in fines and legal proceedings under the laws identified in the notification.