BARAMULLA: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan, accompanied by concerned officers today visited Baramulla where he chaired two separate meetings with Deputy Commissioners of Baramulla and Kupwara besides interacting with various stakeholders in order to discuss means and measures for combating the challenge of COVID-19 pandemic.
On the occasion, a comprehensive discussion was held wherein the stakeholders comprising religious heads, transporters, traders among other prominent sections of the society from both the districts separately presented their feedback and suggestions with regard to the issue.
DDC Chairperson Baramulla, Safina Beigh, DDC Chairman Kupwara Irfan Panditpuri, Deputy Commissioner Baramulla Bhupinder kumar, Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Imam ud din, Director Tourism Dr G N Itoo, Director RDD Kashmir, heads of various departments, PRIs among other concerned functionaries were present on the occasion.
Advisor underlined the need of active cooperation from every stakeholder in combating the challenge of COVID-19 pandemic and said that need of the hour is to supplement the government efforts at this critical juncture. He added that religious heads and PRIs enjoy a respectable position in the society and they can effectively do their part by motivating people to follow SOPs and guidelines for averting major exigencies.
Advisor called for stringent measures for curbing this infection. He also stressed upon the traders and transporters to strictly follow the requisite advisories saying that the situation can go out of control if the issue is not taken seriously.
Advisor said that any kind of gathering in the form of religious congregation need to be avoided at the time of pandemic.
Baseer Khan added that administration has procured sufficient stock of Oxygen supply and essential drugs and there is no need to pay any heed to the rumours regarding its scarcity. He emphasized upon the officers and other stakeholders to educate people about the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination campaign so that people come forward and take the vaccine doses at their stipulated time.
Meanwhile, Advisor directed both the DCs to formulate exigency plans in view of forthcoming festivals of Shab-e-Qadr and Eid-u-Fitr and make arrangements of mobile vans in containment zones so that all the essential commodities are delivered at the door steps of those living in such zones. He emphasized to ensure that the economic activities relating to agriculture, horticulture, MGNREGA etc goes on smoothly provided COVID appropriate protocol is strictly followed.
Interacting with the PRI and ULB representatives, Advisor impressed upon them to play a bigger role in tackling this pandemic. He appealed them to step forward and aware the masses about the importance of wearing a mask and social distancing. He further requested them to get their localities sanitised/fumigated.
Later, Advisor convened meetings of officers where he took an appraisal of various anti-corona measures that are being currently taken up by both the district administrations.
During the separate meetings, both the DCs briefed about various initiatives that have been taken up by the administration to combat COVID-19 pandemic.
DC Baramulla informed that presently there are about 2500 active cases in Baramulla district with 300 cases being reported on daily basis. He added that 38 zones have been declared as containment zones where mass testing is being carried out. He also informed that Baramulla has the capacity of 400 hospital beds and 03 Oxygen plants are operating effectively. Bhupinder Kumar said that GMC Baramulla shall be equipped with 70 high Flow Oxygen beds which will prove very beneficial at this critical time.
Appreciating the role of both district administrations, Advisor emphasized to scale up such activities for overall well being of the people.
