90 facilities in Peshawar closed to prevent spread of coronavirus

PESHAWAR: An extraordinary situation developed in the provincial capital on Saturday after wedding halls like other public places were closed down to prevent spread of coronavirus.

Those scheduled to celebrate weddings there were left in a quandary as the order to shut-down the wedding halls was sudden.

“The district administration of Peshawar and other districts on Saturday started action on the directives of the provincial government, closing down over 90 hostels, educational institutions, cinemas, public places and wedding halls,” Abid Majeed, the secretary of the Rehabilitation, Relief and Settlement Department, told the News.

As many as 26 hostels across Peshawar as well as 32 educational institutions that had not announced vacations despite directives by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government were closed on Saturday. Tens of thousands of students were seen waiting at bus and coaches stands as they tried to find seats in passenger vehicles for their hometowns after announcement of vacations to stop the spread of the virus.

A tense situation was created across the provincial capital and other districts when the wedding halls were closed and the administration was directed not to host any kind of function due to the emergency across the world.

“The district administration in Peshawar closed 32 wedding halls on Saturday after issuing strict orders not to host wedding or any kind of gathering. The action was taken to stop people from gathering in large numbers as a precaution to stop the spread of coronavirus,” an official said.

He added that these wedding halls were located in Hayatabad, University Road, Shami Road, Gulbahar, Grand Trunk Road, Saddar, Nauthia, Kohat Road and Ring Road. The management of the wedding halls as well as scores of families had to run from one office to another on Saturday as events were already scheduled for Saturday and Sunday and tens of thousands of guests had been issued invitations.

“Any event in wedding halls, marquees, public spaces is banned and strictly,” the deputy commissioner Peshawar Mohammad Ali Asghar told The News. He added no directions have so far been issued for closure of events in houses.

“We were told by the administration of the wedding halls that the district administration has banned all kind of functions till further order. We have invited over 1,500 guests and now we don’t know how to host them after the new development,” one Nawaz Khan said with a feeling of helplessness.

Another family from Kohat Road was making all out efforts to convince the district administration and the wedding hall management to open the facility as they have invited over 2,500 people for walima reception on Sunday.

“This will be quite embarrassing though we understand the sensitivity of the issue,” a member of the family remarked.

Some of these families have made arrangements to some of their invited guests in their respective localities to avoid embarrassment.

The management of the wedding halls are busy conveying information to others who had booked their halls for weddings and other events in the coming weeks. In turn, the families hosting these events are trying to convey this information to their invited guests.