Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu Saturday urged people to adhere to guidelines to contain the coronavirus during festival celebrations.
The Mayor made the remarks after making surprise visit to various areas of Downtown here amid complaints of violation of lockdown, social distancing and overpricing. The main focus of his visit remained the areas which otherwise go unnoticed by authorities and are rarely inspected in view of festivals and other occasions by officials to take firsthand account of ground reality.
He visited Rajouri Kadal along with other SMC officials and found non-essential service shops open which were later made to down the shutters.
At Jamia Masjid, toy shops, fabric and garment stores were also found open. On his appeal, all shopkeepers down their shutters and promised to adhere to the guidelines.
At Bohri Kadal and adjoining areas, the Mayor interacted with locals, both young and elderly. He made eight non-essential stores to down shutters after making awareness about need and importance for adhering to the guidelines to contain deadly virus.
The Mayor talked in length with locals about the efforts of authorities to fight coronavirus and sought their cooperation to put an end to this pandemic.
He told them that fight against COVID19 was a collective responsibility and whatever measures and efforts have been taken so far can be unfruitful with a single mistake.
“We need to take all precautions to fight this unseen enemy. I requested you to shut down the shutters of non-essential stores and adhere to guidelines,” he said.
Later, the Mayor posted a photograph of a shop on his twitter handle: “At Nabidi Pora, Hawal – found two dozen shopper crammed inside this garment shop – no ventilation – shutters down. The entire city has come together and worked very hard for three months to avert a disaster. We can’t afford risking it on Eid. Request everyone to adhere,” he wrote.