By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 27 Jun: Markets in the state will now remain open till 8 pm and in Dehradun, they will open on Saturdays and Sundays too. The decision to this effect was today conveyed by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to all the District Magistrates through video conference. The CM was chairing a review meeting through video conferencing with the DMs on Saturday in respect of Corona pandemic.
The big question mark however is that there are few customers in the market for items that do not fall into daily consumables category. May shopkeepers are still closing their shops by 4 pm though the markets are open till 7 pm now. A large number of shopkeepers claim that there are few customers in the market and therefore it is hardly useful to open shops till 7. The Government also allowed the people to go for morning walk from 5 am onwards. Earlier, no morning walk was permitted before 7 though, some people were indulging in morning walks before 7 but the Police was harassing them. It remains to be seen if increasing the timings for opening of the markets is able to bring more customers to the markets or not! It is also not clear who had demanded the increase in timings for opening of the markets!
Meanwhile, the CM also reviewed the progress in respect of preparedness to deal with Dengue as the season of Dengue epidemic is also round the corner with the onset of the monsoons. Rawat directed the District Magistrates to launch a mass awareness campaign to prevent spread of dengue. Special attention ought to be paid to cleanliness. In districts where the spread of dengue had been less in previous years, a concrete strategy ought to be made to try to eradicate the spread totally in those districts. The CM also directed that enough stock of blood platelets be ensured in the hospitals as severe cases of dengue often required transfusion of blood platelets. He also directed regular fogging of residential and other areas by the municipal bodies. To prevent widespread spread of dengue, the doctor ought to coordinate with the media from time to time. Special attention ought to be paid to cleanliness and drainage to prevent dengue in urban areas. A comprehensive cleanliness campaign be conducted in every district once a week, he said.
The Chief Minister directed the officers that special attention be paid to drinking water system keeping in view the rainy season. He said that due to damage of drinking water pipelines and seepage of rainwater in pipelines particularly in the mountain districts, the chances of diseases could increase. He asked the officials to keep a constant dialogue with the representatives of the public to solve various problems. On this occasion, the health department was informed about the efforts being made for the prevention and public awareness of dengue.
The CM said that the surveillance system be strengthened for effective control of Covid-19. Those who had home quarantine and home isolation be constantly monitored. Action be taken against those who violated the rules and jumped the quarantine. The Chief Minister directed all the District Collectors that shops in all districts be allowed to open till 8 pm. Instructions were given to open the market in Dehradun from next week on Saturdays and Sundays also. He said that people be allowed morning walk from 05 am.
Rawat claimed that recovery rate of Corona positive cases had improved rapidly in the state. He asked all the District Magistrates and Health Department to work with caution and protection. It was informed in the meeting that more than 1700 tests are being conducted daily in the state. Testing of corona would also start in Mukteswar from Monday. Upto 100 tests per day would be conducted there.
Secretary Health Amit Negi, Secretary Shailesh Bagoli, Soujanya, SA Murugesan, Pankaj Pandey, DG Health Amita Upreti, etc., were among those present.
