Sir,
With the continually increasing number of people affected by the coronavirus and some recent deaths, there is an atmosphere of fear and panic all over the country. Media channels and social media pages are flooded with all the necessary information needed to stop the spread of this novel virus. For the same cause, the governments in different states have shut down all the possible public gathering places. Many schools, colleges and universities have also been closed for at least two weeks. Quarantine process of public places and transport such as the railways have been initiated. Screening of people is going on in various airports across the country. But no such attention is being paid to the railway junctions which also contribute to large public gatherings.
With the closure of academic institutions across the country, many students, faculties and staff are travelling to their homes. Not every one of them opts to fly by air. Majority of them go by trains also, and once they board from one corner of the country and deboard at another, there are no preventive measures to be seen to check for any possible active case. There is no travel history of the passengers commuting in public transport. Many students are interns in foreign countries, and various children take part in international competitions. Many of them could have returned in the early phase of this virus spread and possibly be the carriers of this virus. And now with the academic institutions shut down and its people travelling by railways can pose a risk to other people as well.
A vast majority of people travel in and out of the railway platforms without being screened, which increases the risk of infection and its spread. Even in the Jammu railway station, there are only two lonely banners hung in a desolate corner depicting the dos and don ts just for the sake of formality. There are no medical teams to be seen to monitor the vast flux of people. It is therefore requested to the concerned authorities of Jammu and Kashmir to deploy the medical teams at the railway station for the screening of the arriving people in the state. Doing this will ensure the prevention of any possible entry of the virus via its host in the state.
Satyarth Pandita
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