Huge crowds throng Jammu's Old City Market, flout Covid safety protocols

As markets opened in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the unclock process following a month-long Covid-induced lockdown, the Old City of Jammu on Tuesday witnessed a huge rush of people who flouting all Covid-protocols.

As markets opened in Jammu and Kashmir as part of the unclock process following a month-long Covid-induced lockdown, the Old City of Jammu on Tuesday witnessed a huge rush of people who flouting all Covid-protocols. The Old City market of Jammu is filled mostly with readymade garment shops, and the local administration had allowed the opening up of these shops on Tuesday. But considering that the market is a congested one, and with a huge influx of visitors on the first day of its opening, ther are fears of a high probability of the spread of Covid-19 infection.

Divyam Sharma, a local resident said, "We Indians do not realize the intensity of it all. After the first wave, we all got too lenient and we could see the effect of it in the second wave. Now again, it's not even been a week that the situation has started improving, and people are back on streets...many of them don't even have masks on". Suggesting the administration to regulate the number of shops that can open in bazaars like this one, he said, "The lockdown should be relaxed in a very controlled manner so that we do not get the worse of it again. Simply announcing the opening of markets is definitely going to create a ruckus".

Another local resident, Vipin Sharma suggested a similar solution. He said, "Government should have opened the market on alternate days on one day shops on one side could have been opened and other day shops on another side could have been opened. Such huge rush and no social distancing are dangerous and the virus can easily spread at such places". While Dheeraj, a local of Jammu said, "Safety of self is in our own hands, and it is the responsibility of the people to follow the guidelines laid of the government".

He also highlighted the fact that four-wheelers were not allowed in the market, but still many of the visitors arrived in their cars. (ANI)

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