Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK): (Parliament Times) It seems COVID~19 is no more in Azad Kammu Kashmir. Although the pandemic was found at rapid decline in AJK since past many days, but it appeared when a thumping majority of the masses was found without wearing a mask during the Eid shopping in various Ajk cities particularly since Tuesday as only a couple of days were left in arrival of the Holly festival of Eid ul Adha, scheduled to be celebrated on August 1st across the country and AJK.
At the same time, the local law enforcement authorities are hecticly engaged in getting the masses strictly observed the SOPs during the Eid shopping to discourage impending threat of spread of tha pandemic in the area.
As the countdown to Eid ul Adha is close to its conclusion, markets across Azad Jammu Kashmir, including the densely-populated Mirpur district, wore a festive look since Monday as people came out in large number at the last leg of their Eid shopping.
However, the same markets gave deserted look on Tuesday following the two weekly smart lock downs – set for every Tuesday and Friday by AJK Government to avert threat of the Novel Corona Virus.
On normal days, the residents throng the markets in major cities including the State’s metropolis Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimbher, Rawalakot, Palandri, Bagh to buy groceries, clothes, shoes and edibles.
This correspondent visited local markets on Thursday in Mirpur, the ancestral city of over a million of UK-based Kashmiri expatriates, the business hub Shaheed Chowk, F/1 and Allama Iqbal Road in the city witnessed a heavy rush of shoppers, leading to traffic chaos on all major routes. Traffic wardens had a tough time managing the traffic particularly since the weekly holiday – Sunday last.
