Monday, 24 May 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
Kumar asks citizens to come out of fear but remain alert & follow Covid guidelines
As Uttarakhand battles the deadly second-wave of Covid-19 and the thought of what to expect next looms large among people, the Director General of Police, Ashok Kumar said that the ongoing Covid- curfew is likely to be extended by two weeks from May 25. In an online interaction on a social media platform on the weekend, Kumar said, “People need to be mentally prepared for Covid curfew to be in force for the next 10-15 days. After that, the unlock process will begin in a phased manner. Even now, we are trying to see if we can increase the duration of the relaxation window given to people with caution. However, there cannot be any compromise on measures required to keep the pandemic under control.” He added that implementation of the Covid-curfew has been a bigger challenge for the police in the second wave as compared to last year due to complacency in public until the infection peaked, “The second Covid wave hit Uttarakhand in April after it had already affected other states but people here still remained slack until cases spiked to as high as 8,000 per day.”
Commenting on the possibility of a third wave in Uttarakhand Kumar said, “The State government is very alert to an imminent third wave. A high-level meeting presided over by the chief minister was also held for strategic planning and swift action on this. While mortality among children has been very low in the first and second wave, it is possible that in the third wave, mortality among children increases. Hence the State government is trying to improve infrastructure in remote mountainous areas while ICUs with special ICUs for children are being set up. Work is also on in other key areas like finalising the protocol for treatment of children if a third wave hits us.”
Asked about the role played by the police during the second wave and its Mission Haunsla initiative, Kumar informed, “The police have been playing two key roles- enforcement of Covid protocols including the curfew and the humanitarian role of helping affected people. On the enforcement side, to ensure that people follow Covid guidelines strictly, state-wide the police has issued more than three lakh challansfor not wearing masks and not maintaining social distancing, collected fine of more than Rs five crore and registered over 1,400 FIRs for violation of Covid-curfew in the second wave. We have also had a zero-tolerance policy on black-marketing and selling spurious medicines and have arrested around 46 offenders. I urge people to report such people, the identity of the complainant will be kept secret if so desired.”
Speaking about Mission Haunsla he said, “Under Mission Haunsla there is one nodal officer for every district and help is being provided through all police stations across the State. Through collaborative efforts with NGOs, citizen- volunteer groups and philanthropists police have been providing all kinds of Covid related help to people round the clock through emergency helpline numbers 112, 100, WhatsApp number 9411112702 and requests received at various police stations. Calls can be made to 112 from anywhere in Uttarakhand 24×7. The central control room immediately informs the district concerned and local control room and the instruction is to provide required help at the earliest from whichever source available. Since May 1, Uttarakhand police have responded to more than 23,000 calls. We have also cremated bodies of 610 Covid patients whose families did not want to do the cremation and unclaimed bodies. Anyone who wants to help society in this pandemic can facilitate it through Mission Haunsla. From delivering oxygen cylinders even late night in remote areas, taking patients without attendants to hospitals, arranging lifesaving medicines, plasma, food, hospital beds and any other help asked for, we have been working hard day and night to provide relief to distressed people.” The DGP also appealed to the people to have a positive mindset but not become complacent or careless in the coming weeks. “Please come out of fear but be alert and aware, only then can we win this battle,” he said.
