Chennai beaches to stay shut on weekends till further notice

Chennai, April 11 (IANS) In wake of the surging Covid cases, the Tamil Nadu government said that beaches of Chennai, Chengalpattu and Kanchipuram will be out of bounds for public on all weekends from Sunday onwards, as well as on government holidays.A government order also said that religious places can stay open till 10 p.m. on all days but no religious congregations or group prayer meetings will be allowed. Cinema halls and multiplexes will be allowed to conduct one more show in addition to the four shows at present but viewers will be limited to 50 per cent of the total capacity.Greater Chennai Development Corporation Commissioner G Prakash, talking to IANS, said: "We are able to manage the crowd at the vegetable and fruit markets, apart from the wholesale Koyambedu market, to 80 per cent but regulating the crowd at Kasimedu fishing harbour is a big challenge. "We have to manage the balance between livelihood and public health... 24,000 fishermen are there in the market and we cannot take a unilateral decision affecting their livelihood."
--IANS aal/vd