Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu on Wednesday urged people not to panic and maintain social distance as a precautionary measure to stop spread of COVID-19.
Hailing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his motivationand appeal to public for ensuring self imposed ‘Janata Curfew’ on March 22, theLG assured the residents of Jammu and Kashmir that all necessary measures werein place to prevent the spread of the virus.
The LG reviewed preparedness and status of arrangements fordealing with the COVID-19 in a high level meeting attended by Rajeev RaiBhatnagar, Advisor to LG; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Atal Dulloo,Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education and senior officers ofother departments.
While lauding efforts of frontline health workers, securityforces and staff of essential services, the LG appealed general public tocomplement efforts of the government and cooperate in breaking the chain byparticipating in the ‘Janata Curfew’.
The LG reiterated there would be no shortage of essentialcommodities or any service. However, he cautioned people not to fall prey torumours and rely only on the government for information. He also warned thataction would be initiated against the rumour mongers.
He urged people to take special care of the vulnerable agegroups like elderly, children and people with existing co-morbidities.
Meanwhile the 66th meeting of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ShrineBoard was held at Raj Bhavan in Jammu under the chairmanship of the LG,Chairman of the Board.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (who attended the meeting throughvideo conferencing), Dr Ashok Bhan, Justice (Retd) Permod Kohli and Maj Gen (Retd)Shiv Kumar Sharma, KK Sharma – all board members; Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar, Advisorto the LG; Chief Secretary, Financial Commissioner, Ramesh Kumar ChiefExecutive Officer of the Board; and Vivek Verma, additional Chief ExecutiveOfficer participated in the deliberations.
The LG reviewed necessary precautionary measures taken bythe Board in view of the outbreak of Coronavirus for ensuring the safety of thevisiting pilgrims, staff and public.
The meeting lauded the pro-active initiatives vizinstallation of bilingual hoardings on the track from Katra to Bhawan,distributing pamphlets among the pilgrims, making announcements in regard tothe advisories on the Multipurpose Audio System in the shrine area forinformation of pilgrims, making available Self Declaration Forms at YatraRegistration Counters, Enquiry and Registration Counter, helipad terminals andall accommodation complexes of the Board, deploying Thermal Image Scanners atYatra entry points of Banganga, Tarakote and Katra helipad for screening ofpilgrims and other issues.
As the Yatra has been suspended from March 18, the LGemphasized that pooja, aarti and other rituals should be performed as usual.
The meeting took stock of various projects taken up andaccomplished by the Board for benefit of society at large, includingestablishment of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Gurukul, Super SpecialtyHospital and Nursing College, besides taking various social support initiativesand gave in-principle approval to proposal for creation of Shri Mata VaishnoDevi Charitable Society to manage non-pilgrimage activities of the Board.