Vehicular movement banned in Udhampur; 5 held in Jammu

Jitendra, Farooq, Masoodi release Rs 1 Cr each

JAMMU: The authorities on Saturday banned the movement of personal and private vehicles in the Udhampur district till March 31, even as the all markets and business establishments were closed in Samba district till the month-end, except for those providing essential supplies.
The Jammu police booked 5 persons who were trying to spread rumours about detection of more cases of COVID- 19 in Jammu there by creating panic in the general public, while three out of four Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) PhD scholars, who had escaped from quarantine in Uttar Pradesh (UP) on March 18, were on Saturday traced to Kashmir valley.
Ahead of Janta curfew on Sunday, the district magistrate Udhampur Dr Piyush Singla restricted all private and personal vehicles from plying on the road till 31 March, with immediate effect.
The vehicles of Army, Police, Essential Services, Health & Medical Education, Ambulances and those of staff on duty of other departments associated with COVID-19 are however exempted.
However, vehicular movement on the National Highway would not be interrupted while for any emergent situation, permission has to be obtained from the concerned local administration i.e. Telisildar.
District Magistrate Samba Rohit Khajuria on Saturday ordered that all the Markets and business establishments would closed in the District till 31 March 2020, except for Medical Stores, Doctor Clinics, Grocery Shops, Fruits & Vegetables Shops, Dairy product Shops, Petrol Pumps, Animal Fodder Shops, Ration Shops, Kerosene Oil Shops and LPG Agencies.
Meanwhile, Jammu police arrested 5 persons who were trying to spread rumours about detection of more cases of COVID- 19 in Jammu there by creating panic in the general public under section 505 (1) IPC and section 3 of Epidemic Act r/w 188 IPC.
They were identified as Amit Sharma of Roop Nagar, Raman Gupta of Gandhi Nagar, Vikas Arora of Shastri Nagar, Rajinder Sharma of Trikuta Nagar, and Vikas Sharma of Gandhi Nagar.
Three out of four AMU PhD scholars, who had escaped from quarantine in UP on March 18, were on Saturday traced to Kashmir valley.
Official sources said that two of them were traced in north Kashmir district of Baramulla while the third one was traced in Anantnag.
However, they said the fourth Kashmiri scholar is still untraced.
"All the three youth have been shifted to health centres for examination. After preliminary medical examination, doctors would decide the course of action," they added.
The three persons had recently come back from UAE following which they were kept in quarantine.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh, NC president Farooq Abdullah and party leader Hasnain Masoodi released an amount of Rs one crore each from their MPLAD funds on Saturday to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Udhampur-Kathua-Doda in the Union Territory, submitted a letter to the District Development Commissioner, Kathua, recommending Rs one crore from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD) fund as allocation to the Health Department for COVID-19 prevention and care, the official said.
Earlier, on his arrival at the Jammu airport, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office was the first passenger to file his health declaration form and submit it to the health authorities.
He also underwent thermal screening and complimented the doctors' team, that comprised of his former students, for the "excellent service" being rendered by them, the official said.
A National Conference (NC) spokesperson said that Farooq released an amount of Rs one crore from his MPLAD funds today to combat the COVID-19 threat in Jammu and Kashmir.
He added that of the said amount, Rs 50 lakh were earmarked for SKIMS, Srinagar while Rs 25 lakh each for Budgam and Ganderbal districts in central Kashmir.
The Srinagar parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Abdullah in the Lok Sabha, is spread over the three districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal.
Expressing concern over the situation unfolding across Jammu and Kashmir, the veteran leader said, "I hope the amount I have released from my MPLAD funds will give the required fillip to the efforts of the agencies concerned to deal with the situation in an effective way.
"The party is alive to the situation and we will walk the extra mile to lend a hand to people in curbing the spread (of the coronavirus). The situation demands adaptation of the existing systems and enhancing of support to the efforts to cope up with it. The government should, on priority basis, come up with an emergency approach of a coordinated and consistent response to stop the situation from escalation."
The NC president said the need of the hour was improved surveillance, more emergency clinical services, implementation of public health measures, effective advisories and a greater coordination between different agencies against the threat.
The NC spokesperson said following directions from Abdullah, the party MP from south Kashmir's Anantnag, Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi, also released an amount of Rs one crore to fight the coronavirus outbreak in his constituency.
"Masoodi has also released an amount of Rs one crore to combat the threat of the virus in his constituency," he said.
The amount would be equally distributed among Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama -- the four south Kashmir districts that were part of Masoodi's constituency, the spokesperson added.