Port Blair, Apr 23 (PTI) The Andaman and Nicobar administration on Thursday withdrew permission for fishing after gross violations of social distancing norms and other guidelines related to COVID-19 were found, officials said.

Several fishermen were found to be travelling in a single boat which is against the guidelines issued in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, they said.

Further, a large number of people from the fishing community were found rushing towards the boats which returned from the sea, officials said.

These amount to gross violations of the norms and guidelines announced in the wake of the outbreak and thus the permission has been withdrawn, a senior official said.

The Union Territory has so far reported 22 cases of COVID-19 and of them, 11 are at present undergoing treatment.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)