Uttarakhand HC asks government rationale behind keeping Haridwar in Red & Dehradun in Orange zone
When Lockdown 3.0 was announced by the government, all the districts in the country were divided into 3 zones viz, Red, Orange and Green. Based on the zone color certain relaxations were announced in these zones. Districts falling in red zones were areas having maximum number of reported corona cases. Orange zone areas were those which were having few corona cases while districts with no corona cases were to be kept in Green zones.
In Uttarakhand, Dehradun has the highest number of corona infections, but this district is in the Orange Zone. At the same time, people in Haridwar, district with less corona positive cases than Dehradun, are facing more strict administration, due to Haridwar being in the Red Zone of Corona. The Uttarakhand High Court has now asked the state government to explain on what basis Haridwar was declared a Red Zone, and why Dehradun is in the Orange Zone.
Akshit Sharma a Law student filed a PIL in the High Court in this regard. In which he resented Haridwar being placed in the Red Zone. In this case, the Nainital High Court has summoned the Central Government as well as the State Government. The High Court has asked the government the rationale behind keeping Dehradun in Orange and Haridwar in the Red Zone. The state government has been asked to reply in the matter by May 18. The petition was heard before a bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice Ramesh Chandra Khulbe through video conferencing. In the petition, Ankit said that on April 20, 2 positive cases of corona were found in Haridwar district, while 10 positive patients were found in Dehradun. In such a situation, Haridwar district was classified as Red Zone and Dehradun as Orange Zone, which is wrong. Akshit demanded an inquiry into it. After hearing both the sides, the High Court has asked the state government to reply in this matter by May 18.
