![Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu taking salute on the partial opening of Civil Secretariat in Srinagar on Monday. Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu taking salute on the partial opening of Civil Secretariat in Srinagar on Monday.](https://cdndailyexcelsior.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/page1-1-5.jpg)
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 4: After a gap of at least six months, the Civil Secretariat partially opened today here in the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir amid the spread of COVID-19.
This time over, the entry into the Civil Secretariat was bit different as the employees had to go through the sanitization tunnels installed in the wake of the pandemic. Slew of other measures were taken by the Health Department as well as by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). Click here to watch video
Almost all the employees turned up on the opening ceremony and walked through the disinfectant tunnels installed. The personnel of the Health Department also screened employees before they could enter the building.
It is pertinent to mention here that, as per the guidelines issued by the Centre, all the offices which are opening up are supposed to screen the employees and also carry out the required sanitization on a regular basis.
Those from the Health Department were seen screening employees with thermal devices to have a sense of the temperature of the employees entering the building.
While giving the sense of measures taken by the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), its Commissioner, Gazanfar Ali told Excelsior that the Corporation has already installed 4 disinfectant tunnels at the Secretariat.
“The installation of these tunnels were as per the protocol and all the employees went through the tunnels before entering the building. We had, a few days ago carried out a thorough drive of sanitizing the interiors of the Secretariat building,” he said.
The officials from the Health Department told Excelsior that they had deputed teams to the Secretariat early in the morning which carried out the required and necessary screening of the employees which entered the building.
Though, it was a partial opening of the offices here, but the Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu also appeared at the Civil Secretariat Srinagar to take the stock of arrangements that were put in place.
In the wake of the spread of deadly COVID-19 pandemic, the Government had earlier deferred the opening of the Civil Secretariat and had directed for the partial opening of the offices today.
It was ordered by the Government that Civil Secretariat will open in Srinagar on 15 June. Normally, it opens here every year in the first week of May.