COVID-19 scare: Div Com asks transporters to stop interstate bus-services in JK

A senior Jammu and Kashmir government official on Tuesday asked transport unions to stop interstate bus services as a precautionary measure to combat the coronavirus spread.

The direction to suspend interstate bus services was given by Jammu Divisional Commissioner Sanjeev Verma shortly after Ramban district adminstration ordered suspension of public transport services and closure of markets in in the district in a drastic step amid the coronavirus spread scare.

Divisional Commissioner Verma also appealed to the religious leaders to motivate public to avoid gatherings.

Verma issued the instructions while chairing a meeting of representatives of religious organisations and transporters besides senior civil and police officials here, an official spokesman said.

Verma also asked transport unions to disinfect public transport vehicles regularly, carry minimum passengers in the vehicles and provide safety kits to drivers and conductors, including masks and sanitiser.

Asking people to follow precautions advised by the Union Ministry of Health and Jammu and Kashmir government, Verma asked religious heads to avoid mass gatherings in temples, churches, gurdwaras and mosques.

Orders have already been issued by the administration to reduce or cancel all avoidable gatherings as precautionary measures to combat the spread of the virus, the divisional commissioner said.

Verma also advised religious leaders to disinfect religious premises with sodium hypochlorite spray and make people aware through announcements of the preventive measures to be taken to avert coronavirus infection.

The participants assured full support to the administration by following all the advisories and orders issued by the administration to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Earlier in a drastic precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus, Ramban District Magistrate on Tuesday ordered suspension of public transport and shutdown of markets in the hilly district, besides ordering closure of hotels and restaurants along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway till March 31.

The Ramban district magistrate issued the order invoking stringent provisions of the National Disaster Management Act.

The traffic on the national highway, connecting Jammu and rest of the country from the Valley and beyond, however, was exempted from the suspension order.

The highway traffic does not fall under the purview of the order. The highway traffic will continue to ply," Ramban, District Magistrate Nazim Zia Khan told PTI.

The highway needs to be kept open for essential supplies to reach Srinagar, he said.

Explaining the rational behind the order to shutdown hotels on the highway, he said, "There is free interaction between local residents and travellers coming from outside, especially in Ramban town (where the commuters stop for lunch and tea) and this order is basically a direct repercussion of that.