Altaf Hamid Rao,
MIRPUR (AJK): Azad Jammu Kashmir government Thursday announced to extend the current lock-down across the State for next 04 weeks to combat impending negative repercussions of the corona virus and to avert the threat of spread of the pandemic in the area.
The AJK government took the decision to this effect at a high level meeting chaired by the Prime Minister of the State Raja Farooq Haider Khan in the State’s metropolis on Thursday.
Besides the AJK cabinet ministers, top officials of the civil administration of the State including Chief Secretary Mathar Niaz Rana, Inspector General Police Salah ud din, Secretary Health Major General Tahir Sardar and others attended.
Our special AJK Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reports that the high-level meeting of the State government decided to continue suspending inter-city, inter-district and inter-provincial transport within and to and from Azad Jammu Kashmir during entire period of the lock-down in the Stat.
“There would be complete lock-down twice a week on every Tuesday and Friday”, the meeting decided.
The meeting also decided to continue strict ban on all sorts of gatherings including marriages to encourage the social distancing and other restrictions recommended in the medical advisory to this direction .
Shops and markets will be allowed to be opened from 08 a.m. to 04 p.m. with preventive measures mentioned in the medical advisory of the government during lock down.
The meeting also decided that there will be complete ban on movement of elderly people and the children in the markets. “Violators will be taken to task on the spot”, the government warned.
Addressing the meeting, Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan said that extension in the lock-down period in AJK had become the need of hour in order to overcome the spread of the COVID-19 in the state.
He said that shopkeepers will be responsible to ensure and implementation of the preventive measures on their own in line with the determined medical advisory to discourage the spread of the virus at the public places of bazars and shopping malls.
Referring to offering of five-time prayers, congregations of Jumma and Taraveh prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, the Prime Minister said that the modes-operando / discipline to this direction would be determined and got implemented with the mutual cooperation and coordination of ulema and religious scholars
