Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, May 22

Laying thrust on the adoption of the principle of isolation for keeping a check on the spread of Covid, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Navjot Singh Mahal on Saturday claimed that 60 per cent villages had already opted for self-imposed lockdown aka ‘thikri pehras’.

Divulging the details, SSP Mahal said police and civil administration were pulling all the stops to ensure the virus is kept at bay by holding thikri pehras. He said isolation was the sole way of combating the virus effectively due to which officials were making the people aware of the need for thikri pehras.

The SSP informed that to date, 60 per cent of villages under Hoshiarpur Police had installed thikri pehras in their villages. He said ensuring self-isolation and restricting the entry of outsiders would help in curbing the spread of infectious disease in the rural areas to a great extent. “All DSPs of the Police Department were conducting regular meetings with sarpanches and villagers in this regard and a major focus was being laid on holding thikri pehras.

Mahal said sarpanches had been either sensitised to ensure the outsiders should have got the first dose of vaccination done 15 days before or they might have had a negative Covid report 72 hours before.

Lauding the rural youths for their enthusiasm, he said youths had indomitable energy and were ensuring proper check outside the boundaries of the villages. He gave examples of villages Uchi Bassi and Fatehgarh where such nakas are proving effective with the help of active participation of youths. He appealed to remaining sarpanches to install thikri pehras for ensuring their safety and support administration by staying at homes to break chain of the virus.