Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 17

Amid the growing apprehensions about the spread of Covid across the country, the Srinagar administration today announced further measures and announced the closure of street food stalls, restaurants and restrictions on conferences and workshops in the city.

The administrations had already announced the closure of schools, colleges and universities across the region. However, today in a three-page notification, several measures were announced under the Disaster Management Act-2005 to strengthen the mechanism to fight the spread of Covid, which has wreaked havoc around the world.

“No restaurants, food courts, food joints, street food kiosks, roadside eateries, community kitchens and home delivery of food services shall operate in Srinagar district till further orders,” the notification read. It also said no conferences, workshops, rallies, gatherings, sit-in protests, would be organised till March 31.

It has also asked the community hall owners not to offer any bookings for social or religious gatherings to avoid large gatherings.

“It shall be mandatory for all travel operators to declare 100 per cent details of bookings done through them for all national and international air travel, which may include local road journeys,” it said.

A day ago, the administration announced the closure of public parks and gardens in Srinagar district.

The administration said Rs 1 crore had been released to hospitals for response measures. It has also directed the managements and authorities concerned to ensure that there is no public gathering at any place — social or religious — till March 31.

It has also asked the government and private hospitals in the district, with more than 1.3 million population, to put the requisite facilities as per the standard operating procedure. The closure of markets, however, has not been announced yet, but people have been asked to avoid overcrowding.

The administration has said they will come with time to time measures to fight the spread of the virus. In the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, three positive cases of the virus have so far been declared and they are being treated in hospitals. However, many individuals whose test reports are awaited continue to be in quarantine. Many having a travel history of abroad have already been declared negative for the virus.

The administration has warned that the violation of any such guidelines in the district would invite strict action.