Amid a spike in coronavirus infection in Jammu and Kashmir, the district administration of Srinagar on Tuesday announced the imposition of Section 144 within the municipal limits of the district and banned assembly of more than four people.
The number of coronavirus cases in Kashmir on Monday stood at 2,057 with Srinagar accounting for 1,117 cases, the highest among all 20 districts in the Union Territory (UT).
Srinagar deputy commissioner Aijaz Ahmed said in a tweet, “In view of massive spurt in positive cases in district Srinagar and after deliberations, Section 144 is imposed hereby within the municipal limits if the district to contain further spread of pandemic. Assembly of five or more persons is banned with immediate effect.”
The move comes in the wake of the Doctors Association of Kashmir calling on the government to impose a lockdown.
Mayor of Srinagar Junaid Mattu in a letter urged J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to go for ‘additional extraordinary Covid preventive measures in Srinagar’.
Mattu wrote the letter to Sinha in the wake of 16 Covid related deaths in Jammu and Kashmir since last night. The dead included a 20- year-old woman at SKIMS in Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a steady rise in Covid infections and deaths since the beginning of the second wave.
“On behalf of the elected representatives of Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the District Development Council (DDC) for Srinagar District, we reaffirm our full support to the administration in our collective fight to stem the spread of COVID in Srinagar. As a step in this direction, we have requested our corporators and DDC members in Srinagar to spread awareness at local ward and panchayat levels to seek active community involvement to ensure maximum adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour and norms and to ensure optimal success of the ongoing vaccination drive,’’ the letter said.
“In our consultations with fellow elected representatives, community representatives, trade union bodies, religious scholars and our medical fraternity in Srinagar, we have found a broad consensus in the need for certain additional extra-ordinary measures to be implemented in Srinagar in time to prevent a potentially adverse situation.”
It said the civil bodies’ representatives are of the considered opinion that every possible measure needs to be taken to prevent gatherings of all sorts, regulate crowds in marketplaces and public transport and also restrict – in some measure – attendance in non-essential offices and institutions as per restrictive, segregated rosters.
“While we appreciate the steps taken in the past week in this direction including shutting down of paid public parks and regulation of gatherings in indoor and outdoor venues, we believe some more steps need to be taken,’’ it said.
“In our consultations with them, representatives of our medical fraternity have highlighted the potential dangers of overcrowding in our hospital OPDs and private clinics and how this might strain our healthcare infrastructure and expose our healthcare workers to grave risks, potentially affecting their ability to prioritise COVID patients.”
The mayor has requested the administration to notify a sustainable system of segregation and crowd regulation of non-emergent patients in this context to isolate major hospitals and healthcare workers from contagion risks.
The letter said, “We are also of the opinion that public transport should be regulated on an odd-even registration basis and marketplaces should be segregated for operations based on particular types of shops and stores permitted to open on a rotational basis on specific categorised weekdays.”
It said a policy pertaining to restaurants and eating houses is also the need of the hour and added that the situation has necessitated similar steps to be taken across all public places that witness crowds.
The letter further said consensus should be facilitated and evolved between representatives of all religious communities, seeking their cooperation and support to help collectively restrict and avoid situations which could have an adverse impact and put lives in danger.
“The administration should invite religious scholars and community representatives and seek their active support and assistance in this direction,’’ it said.
The letter said severe penalties need to be notified and enforced on individuals and institutions found in violation of COVID SOPs and guidelines, most prominently the wearing of face-masks and ensuring physical distancing.
It said heavy fines need to be imposed on those institutions and individuals who are violating these norms.
The letter said the ongoing vaccination drive, in addition to adherence to COVID norms and guidelines, will be vital in our efforts to stop the spread of the disease in Srinagar and elsewhere.
“Sir we also request the Administration to allow our teachers in public and private schools to work from their homes, as has been done in colleges and universities. This would not affect the online mode of impartation while also isolating our large teaching community from any potential risks,” the mayor wrote in his letter.
The letter further said medical experts and prevention medicine specialists should be included in consultative processes and empowered to advise the administration on policy decisions that might be necessitated from time to time.
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