Srinagar: The Kashmir administration has decided to re-test for Covid-19 at the district level all non-local labourers who have entered Kashmir and were screened at Jawahar Tunnel. The move comes amid growing speculation among people that non-local labourers have entering the Valley without undergoing Covid-19 test.
Last week, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir PK Pole ordered in a meeting with various district heads that Covid-19 tests of non-local labourers will be done at the district level.
“The deputy commissioners and CMOs shall identify a centrally located building at district/tehsil level and put in place all necessary logistics/ manpower required for the purpose,” read the order issued by the Divisional Commissioner.
The order replaced the existing directions of Covid-19 testing of non-local labourers at the Jawahar Tunnel.
On Saturday, 31 tractors of local brick kiln operators were caught illegally ferrying around 200 non-local labourers in a bid to evade screening for Covid-19.
“The re-sampling of the labourers whose samples have been earlier collected at Jawahar Tunnel will be done in the respective districts especially Anantnag, Pulwama, Kulgam and Budgam where these labourers are staying currently,” the Divisional Commissioner has directed in his order.
An official from the labour department told Kashmir Reader that more than 20,000 non locals have arrived in the Valley, with most of them having been screened for Covid-19. Some of them managed to enter the valley without screening, he said, but they have all been caught.
Questions have also been raised about the timing of their arrival in the valley, as there has been a spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths in recent days.
Pole told kashmir Reader that there is a need to enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) which include masking faces, maintaining social distancing, and washing hands frequently. He said that shutting the place down for a long time is not the solution.
“People can work if they follow the recommendations. Arrival of labourers will boost work and will have no impact on the trajectory of Covid-19 cases if the rules are not defied,” Pole said.

Junaid Nabi Bazaz