SRINAGAR: As Covid-19 cases continue to be on the rise, Mayor, Srinagar Municipal Corporation Junaid Azim Mattu has requested the closure of all tourist gardens and the prohibition of all congregational prayers and religious gatherings in Srinagar.
The Mayor emphasized that the second COVID-19 wave poses an unparalleled obstacle in a letter to Lieutenant Governor, which he posted on his Twitter account, and made as many as ten recommendations with requests for implementation.
Have written to Hon’ble LG Jenab @manojsinha_ Sahab reaffirming SMC’s complete and prompt enforcement of Administration’s guidelines to battle #COVID in #Srinagar and also requested some additional guidelines be notified for Srinagar City.@OfficeOfLGJandK @SMC_Srinagar pic.twitter.com/yxYC5wt6Nb
— Junaid Azim Mattu (@Junaid_Mattu) April 23, 2021
He said, among other things, that all tourist gardens, monuments, and sites should be closed, and that anyone entering Srinagar by air or road should have a negative RT-PCR test record.
He also called for the closure of all OPD’s at government and private hospitals to relieve the burden on healthcare facilities, as well as the suspension of all elective or non-emergent procedures and surgeries at hospitals until the situation improves and vaccination rates rise.
He has also requested that all congregational prayers and religious meetings at places of worship in Srinagar be prohibited, as well as a 50 percent attendance roster for all critical services in government and public offices on a rotating basis. In government and public offices, he suggested, a 33 percent attendance roster on a rotational basis be used for non-essential services.
“There should be a 33% attendance roster on rotational basis for teachers of Government and private schools (those that continue to seek presence of teachers for administrative and curriculum dissemination purposes),” he said, “There should be a 33% rotational regulation for vendor-markets and flea-markets in Srinagar – regulating crowds that throng these markets.” He also demanded constitution of a multi-agency field task-force to enforce COVED guidelines (mask-usage, physical-distancing and restrictions in outdoor and indoor gatherings) besides a comprehensive, multi-media and multi-pronged community awareness campaign with door-to-door initiatives to ensure maximum possible success of the COVID vaccination drive. (GNS)
