Anti-coronavirus arrangements in Chitral disappointing: adviser

CHITRAL: Chief Minister’s Adviser Wazirzada MPA on Friday expressed dissatisfaction over arrangements made by the district administration to check the spread of coronavirus and cope with any emergency situation in Chitral and declared the preparation disappointing.

Chairing a meeting at the office of DC Lower Chitral, Wazirzada said he just arrived in Chitral via the Lowari tunnel and there was no one to screen people coming to Chitral from different parts of the country.

They were even not being asked where they were coming from, he added.

This shows that the district administration of Chitral is either ignoring government’s directions regarding precautionary steps against the deadly virus or is committing negligence to follow them.

The adviser said the matter related to the life of 0.5 million people of Chitral and there would be no compromise on measures to protect them against the virus, a source told ChitralToday.

He said mere issuing notifications or directives would not be suffice as there was a need for taking some strict measures to cope with the situation.

He said in order to avoid any untoward situation, passenger vehicles coming from Islamabad and Peshawar should not be allowed to come out of the bus terminals. He also said without shutting the Lowari tunnel it may be difficult to control the situation.

Though no case of the virus has been reported in Chitral, the current exodus of Chitrlis from different parts of the country to Chitral could lead to the transportation of the virus to the valley, he added.

Additional Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Hayat Shah told the meeting that at a meeting the closure of the tunnel had been discussed and the commissioner Malakand Division had been informed about it but so far no direction has been received.

He said the PDMA had sent a list of 51 people who had returned from Umrah with a direction to quarantine them.–Muhkam Uddin Ayuni