Srinagar, Feb 7: Undeclared curfew badly hit the pulse polio program in old city areas on Thursday where a fairly lesser number of people came out to administer anti-polio drops to their kids.
 Liaison officer for pulse polio immunization, Khursheed Ahmad, told Greater Kashmir that people’s response to immunization was low in Nowhatta, Gojwara, Kawdara, Rajouri Kadal, Nawakdala, Safakadal and the adjoining areas. According to the figures provided by him, densely populated Gojwara saw 76 per cent turn out, Nowhatta 80 per cent, Rajouri Kadal 69 per cent, Nawakadal and Safakadal 69 per cent and Kawdara 68 per cent. The turnout in the pulse polio program in these areas has been over 90 per cent previously.
  “While around 90 per cent of people turned up to give polio drops to their children in Srinagar, the response was fairly low in the old city. Apparently due to the restrictions, people in old city stayed away from the booths while we got over 90 per cent response there normally,” he said.
 The low turnout has forced the health department to set up booths in all major primary healthcare centres in the old city for next three days. Khursheed said the makeshift arrangement would work in the areas where the restrictions are likely to continue in the coming days.
 “Normally we go from door to door for immunization on the second day of the program but the areas under restrictions we will set up booths in PHCs because we couldn’t go from door to door,” he said.
 The poor repose, Khursheed said, has been despite divisional commissioner’s instructions to troopers to allow the parents, especially mothers, to the polio booths.
 “We had also received a copy of the directions,” he said.
 Pertinently, the response elsewhere in Srinagar has been quite good. The district was divided into four zones of SR Gunj, Zadibal, Hazratbal and Batmaloo. SR Gunj had 91 booths with a target population of 29887 and the number of people who turned up was 26775. In Zadibal there were 93 booths where 17962 people out of target 19186 turned up for immunization.  Hazratbal had 60 booths with a target population of 14000 and achieved target was 14792. And in 191 booths of Batmaloo with a target population of 41625, 40726 people turned up for the program.
 Meanwhile, according to an official handout issued here this evening, as many as 1067340 children between the age group of 0-5 years were covered under Pulse Polio Immunization Programme in Kashmir division including Leh and Kargil districts.
 The health department had arranged 5489 PP booths with 21956 workers of Health and Social Welfare departments to achieve the target, the handout said.
 The Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr Amin said said that additional polio booths were established at Railway Station, Airport besides surrounding areas of Dal Lake.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 7 Feb 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 7 Feb 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:00:00 IST