Rawalpindi : On the directions of the Punjab Home Department, the local administration in Rawalpindi on Wednesday imposed a smart lockdown at 19 hotspots areas of coronavirus. The lockdown will remain in place till December 21, 2020.
According to a notification issued by Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, the smart lockdown has been imposed in Rahim Town, Muslim Town, Gulshanabad, Shakriyal, Asif Colony, Adiala, Daryabad, Gawalmandi, Qasimabad, Naik Alam, Bagh Sardaran, Safdarabad, Sadiq Colony, Dhoke Najju, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Waris Khan, Gulistan Colony, Tulsa, and Garibabad areas. The lockdown in these areas will remain in place for 12 days till December 21.
Deputy Commissioner (DC), Rawalpindi Captain (r) Anwar-ul-Haq told ‘The News’ that he has issued notification of ‘smart lockdown’ in these areas. The smart lockdown will continue till December 21, 2020. “We are getting a good response of ‘smart lockdown’ and coronavirus cases came down in these areas,” he claimed. He also said that smart lockdown practice would continue in the coming days.
He said that they have lifted smart lockdown from 11 localities while imposed smart lockdown in 19 areas.
The administration with the help of police installed barricades and barbed wires in these localities. All business activities remained closed in these localities on Wednesday.
According to local administration, police have taken charge of the areas to ensure the safety and security of the public. It said that all markets, private and government offices have been closed down in these areas. Violators will face strict legal action, local administration warned.
All milk shops, meat, fish, and chicken shops in lockdown areas would remain open. The unnecessary movement has been banned while the government and private people could move with the permission of their departments.
After issuing notification of lockdown, police have blocked all entry and exit points of these localities with barbed wires. The local administration along with police is making announcements through loudspeakers insisting public to stay at homes otherwise strict action would be taken against them.
It is worth mentioning here that the local administration on December 1, 2020, had issued a notification of smart lockdown in 11 areas including Airport Society, Mirza Colony, Tench Bhatta, Tehmasabad, Satellite Town, New Malpur, 7th Road, Shaheen Town, Piracha Chowk, Gulzar-e-Quaid and Farooq-e-Azam Road. This smart lockdown was placed only for a week till December 8, Tuesday.
The administration had also declared areas of Taxila to Lala Rukh Wah Cantonment, from Tehsil Gujar Khan to Barki Jadeed, Jarmot Kalan, Daryana Khakee and Doltala as hotspots.