Govt deploys 2 officers to monitor movement, increases counters
3 deaths, many from showrooms test +ve
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Oct 13: As mess prevailed at Lakhanpur, the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir over entry of people into the Union Territory, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh today spoke to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha while Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla called up the UT administration over delay in implementation of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines over unhindered inter-State/UT movement of civilians and vehicles.
“Just now, had a word with LG Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha about the inter-border movement restrictions at Lakhanpur. He has assured me that he will immediately get the issue resolved to the satisfaction of local people,” Dr Jitendra Singh tweeted this morning.
Later, the Union Home Secretary rang up the J&K administration and reminded them of the MHA guidelines on inter-State/UT movement which had stated that there should be no restrictions. Bhalla had recently written to all Chief Secretaries of States and UTs to ensure free inter-State/UT movement of civilians and vehicles.
However, as far as Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, the people intending to visit Jammu and Kashmir had to wait for at least three to four hours for clearance as they had to secure passes for reporting in their districts. Quite often, long queues of vehicles could be seen at Lakhanpur with people waiting for their turn to take pass or get tested for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, acting swiftly, the J&K Government has appointed Commissioner/ Secretary Higher Education Department Talat Parvez Rohella as overall Incharge Lakhanpur to oversee movement of passengers, ensure fast testing and smooth flow of entry and exit of vehicles in addition to his own duties. Arun Kumar Manhas, Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan will assist Rohella in addition to his own duties.
The officers will remain stationed at Lakhanpur with immediate effect till further orders, an order issued by the General Administration Department. said.
Divisional Commissioner Jammu Sanjeev Verma also rushed to Lakhanpur this evening and reviewed the problems being faced by people there while entering Jammu and Kashmir.
Verma told the Excelsior that two additional counters have been set up at Lakhanpur for Light Motor Vehicles for expeditious clearance of the people. Travelers will be released after manual issuance of passes and the online registration will be done later, he said, adding five separate counters were already operational for the labourers entering the UT.
Elaborating on the procedure at Lakhanpur, District Magistrate OP Bhagat said the inhabitants of Kathua district are subjected to Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) sampling at Lakhanpur and those testing negative for COVID-19 are allowed to go home immediately while COVID protocol is followed for the positive patients. However, the people belonging to other districts of Jammu and Kashmir are given passes and asked to report for testing at sample collection centres of their districts, he added.
Because of cumbersome process at Lakhanpur, many people are resorting to illegal practices like taking other routes to skip Lakhanpur on way from Punjab to Kathua.
“It was in view of extreme difficult situation being faced by the people at Lakhanpur that pilgrimage to holy cave shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi Ji is not picking up as people from different States are hesitant to travel to J&K. As against existing ceiling of 5000 per day which has been raised to 7000 from October 15 for the yatra, hardly 500 people are visiting the cave shrine in a day,” sources said.
The trade and industry is also suffering badly because of the restrictions at Lakhanpur, sources pointed out and hoped that the Union Territory administration will follow other States and Union Territories which have relaxed all restrictions on inter-State movements. However, in J&K even inter-State buses are not being allowed to cross Lakhanpur and people had to travel only by cars/taxis or other private vehicles.
Meanwhile, three persons died of Coronavirus while 313 new cases were reported from the region as 398 persons recovered today.
A 65-year-old man from Rajpura in Jammu district was brought dead to the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu. He was positive for the virus and symptomatic. An 81-year-old man from Jourian near Akhnoor, who was co-morbid and positive for the virus died in the GMC Jammu. A 70-year-old man from Baddon Rajouri died of multiple ailments and COVID-19 in the same hospital.
Eighty four persons tested positive for virus during RAT in Jammu district including two from Gole Market Gandhi Nagar, two JEEP Showroom Greater Kailash, two Satwari Chowk, one Gole Gujral, two AM Hyundai Channi Bypass, one Peaks Auto Showroom Bernai, one Fairdeal Motor Trucking Narwal, seven Ansari Trucking Narwal Bypass, one Peaks Auto Kunjwani, three KC Morh, 12 Akhnoor, three Bishnah, one Dansal, four Kot Bhalwal, seven Marh, one Pallanwalla and nine RS Pura.
As per the official figures, 121 persons today tested positive in Jammu district, 114 of them locals and seven travelers while all 41 positives in Rajouri, 16 Udhampur, 21 Samba, nine Ramban and 23 in Reasi district were locals. In Doda, 22 of 23 positives were locals. Eleven of 12 Corona positives in Poonch, 39 of 40 in Kishtwar and four of seven in Kathua were locals.
As many as 398 Corona patients recovered today, the highest being 189 in Jammu district, 55 Doda, 37 each Rajouri and Udhampur, 25 Kishtwar, 20 Ramban, 18 Poonch, 15 Kathua and two in Reasi district.
Jammu region now has 33962 Corona casualties. Of them, 3985 are active positives while 29540 have recovered from the virus and there have been 437 casualties.
Jammu district topped the casualty figure with 227 followed by 44 Rajouri, 40 Doda, 29 Kathua, 24 Samba, 23 Udhampur, 22 Poonch, 11 each Kishtwar and Ramban and six in Reasi district.
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