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| COVID: Restrictions on movement of people back in Kashmir due to weekend curfew | | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, June 5: Streets again wore a deserted look on Saturday as restrictions on movement of people and transportation were re-imposed in view of 60-hour-long weekend curfew that came into force on Friday evening to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the summer capital, Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir.
Markets continued to remain closed as shops and business established have been allowed to open on rotational basis only for two days –Mondays and Thursdays – in the valley, where the number of COVID positive cases has witnessed a significant decline during the last over two weeks though there was no letup in the number of deaths due to the virus.
Meanwhile, strict restrictions on movement of people and transportation in some Red category districts – including Anantnag and Baramulla – continued for the s econd successive day on Saturday.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration last week gave some relaxation in the month-long COVID curfew that was imposed amid unabated rise in the number of COVID positive cases and deaths on April 29. According to the order, shops and business establishments were allowed to open on rotational basis two days a week in markets while public traffic, with 50 per cent seat capacity, was allowed to ply in five orange category districts in the valley. However, authorities have continued weekend curfew in the valley, where clubs, gyms, spas and paid parks would remain closed till further orders.
All the roads and market places, including Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of the summer capital, were sealed early on Saturday morning to prevent movement of people. Shops and businesses established were closed while all the roads were deserted as traffic and people were off the roads in downtown, civil lines, uptown in Srinagar in view of weekend curfew.
But, people with emergency or associated with essential services, including doctors and paramedics were allowed to move on the roads after proper verification at various checkpoints established by police.
The order issued by the Nodal officer, COVID Mitigation Operations, Srinagar read that markets having shops on both sides of the road shall open on rotational basis with business establishments on one side remaining open and the other side remaining closed on Mondays and Thursdays.
Similarly markets having shops on only one side shall be allowed to open odd number shops on Mondays and even number on Thursdays. Standalone shops, barber shops, salons and beauty parlors can open on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
It further said that 25 per cent of the shops inside a shopping mall shall be allowed to operate on a given day. Though, it was not clarified whether they can open the shops on all days or only on Mondays and Thursdays.
“Public transport with 50 per cent seat capacity will be allowed to ply on all roads except on Saturday and Sunday due to weekend curfew,” it said. As many as 1723 new positive cases, including 1124 from Kashmir and 599 from Jammu, were on Friday reported in the Union Territory. Thirty four people, including 21 from Kashmir and 13 from Jammu, lost their lives to the infection on Friday.
Business and other activities remained crippled in central Kashmir districts of Budgam and Ganderbal, where roads have been closed with barbed wires in most parts to prevent movement of vehicles and people.
Reports of similar restrictions were coming from other parts of the valley, including Sopore, Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north and Shopian, Anantnag, Pulwama and Kulgam in south Kashmir. Shops and business establishments were closed and roads wore a deserted look in these districts, where police parties were patrolling their respective areas to ensure strict implementation of the weekend curfew. The administration in April ordered the closure of all universities, colleges, schools, and coaching centres in the Union Territory till May 15 though teaching and non-teaching staff were asked to attend schools and colleges.
But, the J&K administration later allowed teaching and non-teaching staff to stay home in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir. The closure of the educational institutes was extended till May 30 and then till June 15.
Teachers, however, are conducting online classes from home in the valley though many students alleged that they were unable to attend these classes due to the non-availability of smartphones. The decision to allow teachers to take online classes from their respective homes was taken after many teaching and non-teaching staff members of government schools tested positive for the virus in the Union Territory.
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