Jammu: After the Abrogation of Article 370 and reorganisation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories on August 5, two public holidays, on July 13 along with the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah celebrated on December 5, were both omitted from the list by the administration in December 2019.
Earlier, leaders belonging to the mainstream political parties would converge at the Mazar-e-Shuhada at Ziyarat Hazrat Naqshband Sahib (RA) in Shehar-e-Khaas, Srinagar to offer floral tributes to the 13th July, 1931 martyrs.
Interestingly, this time, in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic the district administration in Srinagar has also decided to reimpose lockdown conditions in certain areas of Srinagar district to contain the spread of coronavirus from Monday.
On Saturday, the total tally of positive cases crossed 10,000 mark in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
On Sunday, at least nine patients died due to Covid 19 in Kashmir valley alone.
“The lockdown will be imposed in 68 containment zones of the city from Monday and no movement would be allowed in these areas without permission”, a formal order issued by the district administration said.
“In view of the major spike in Covid-19 cases, we will have to carve out containment zones for effective restrictions in different areas of Srinagar. Local cooperation is solicited in the best interest of public health,” Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary tweeted separately.
According to Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, ”No entry and exit will be allowed without a movement pass from the red zone in case of essential services,” adding, ”no civilian or employee shall be allowed to come out or go inside a red zone without a valid movement-proof.”
The decision to reimpose the lockdown in these areas of the city was taken at a meeting late Saturday evening, official sources said. The city has witnessed a spike in the number of coronavirus cases over the past one week.
Meanwhile, the district authorities in Anantnag and Kupwara too have decided to impose strict lockdown guidelines amid fresh surge in the cases of coronavirus.
Soon after the decision was taken, a large number of tourists present in Pahalgam area of Anantnag were directed to return within a span of two hours .
On the other hand, the situation in Jammu region remained partially better but thousands of local residents,ignoring social distancing guidelines, Sunday travelled to a local tourist hotspot in Patnitop and Nathatop to enjoy cool climes.
Ironically, no one from the police and traffic department prevented these motorists from visiting the hotspot where long traffic snarls were witnessed by the commuters due to complete jamming of the road.