covid-19: SMC Mayor demands disallowing congregational prayers in Srinagar

Srinagar, April 23: Mayor Srinagar Municipal Corporation has demanded shutting down of all tourists gardens and disallowing all congregational prayers and religious gatherings in Srinagar amid continuing covid-19 surge.

In a letter to Lieutenant Governor, shared by him on his tweeter handle, the Mayor, Juanid Azim Mattu, underscored that the second COVID-19 wave mounts an unprecedented challenge and made as many as ten suggestions with request for implementations.

Among others, he said all tourist gardens, monuments and tourist sites shall be shut while a negative RT-PCR test report should be made mandatory for anyone entering Srinagar by air or through the road routes.

He also demanded shutting down all OPDs at Government and Private Hospitals to reduce the strain on healthcare infrastructure; ceasing all elective or non-emergent procedures and surgeries at the hospitals till the situation improves and vaccination rates go up. He has also demanded disallowing all congregational prayers and religious gatherings at places of worship in Srinagar besides a 50% attendance roster on rotational basis at all essential services in government and public offices. For non-essential services, he said, a 33% attendance roster on rotational basis be resorted to in government and public offices.

“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, adding, “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.