SRINAGAR : With many people evading screening and quarantine, the Srinagar administration is making all efforts to track down local travelers who are hiding travel history.
As coronavirus has gripped the entire world, hundreds of Kashmiri students and other people are arriving at Srinagar Airport from different countries daily.
However, there are many who are escaping to be taken for quarantine in the valley.
While Srinagar administration has been making efforts to ensure all those returning from abroad are tracked and taken to be quarantined. A top official said the government has directed concerned authorities to ensure no one left untraced and taken for quarantined.
“Four passengers just reached from Mauritius, Dubai and Kazakhstan decline to declare travel history. Done quickly by IT team. My WHO guidelines wala friends can u please send a recorded sermon to help convince such people? Please? I beg. I ignore the thick skin and help,” District Development Commissioner Srinagar Shahid Chowdhary tweeted.
In another tweet, he said, “Two brothers. Same medical college in Bangladesh. One travels by air, declares travel history lands in quarantine. Other take road goes home, probably enjoyed Wazwan. A smart neighbor informs the control room. The team got in touch. Symptomatic. WHO guidelines lecture please.”
He further said, “A gentleman coming from Italy reaches New Delhi via another port. Takes train to Jammu and cab to home in Srinagar. Just to hide history. Traced. Need collective focus to handle it. Things are not that simple as they appear from homes and office rooms.”
The crackdown comes amid reports of students forging their identity cards and evading screening and quarantine. “My daughter who returned from Delhi is quarantined. But few of her friends managed to escape the quarantined. After reaching Delhi, they (her friends) boarded a flight to Jammu and then to Srinagar. At the Srinagar Airport, they concede they returned from Bangladesh instead told the medical staff they were staying in Jammu,” a parent told Kashmir Indepth News Service, whose daughter is quarantined on Srinagar outskirts.
He said some students were producing fake identity cards to escape the laid out procedures.
A source at Srinagar Airport said there were loopholes to check the credentials of those who returning from various parts. “While some are hiding their travel history others board flight to Jammu from Delhi then Srinagar to escape to be taken to be quarantined. They hide they return from abroad,” the source said.
Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan, who is overall in-charge of coronavirus control efforts in Kashmir has directed strict monitoring at Srinagar International Airport and Jawahar Tunnel to ensure thorough screening of passengers and travelers.
The Advisor said that health officials must maintain a constant watch on cases and immediate reporting and shifting of those who might develop Covid-19 symptoms is of critical importance.(KINS)
