Social distancing not being observed in Lower Dir

TIMERGARA: Markets, shops and bazaars on Thursday remained closed in Lower Dir district except those allowed by the government to remain open in the larger interest of the public after the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced lockdown all over the province.

People preferred to remain indoors throughout the day but soon after sunset, a large number of dwellers came out of their houses, wandering and sitting together and gossiping, besides children playing together in various parts of the district.

Though officials of district administration and the law enforcers repeatedly announced through loudspeakers and the process of checking shops, markets and bazaars continued throughout the day, yet a large number of residents came out of their houses in the evening. Taking action against violators and to disperse roadside gatherings, Assistant Commissioner Timergara Muhammad Shah Jamil Khan raided various villages in suburbs of the district headquarters in Balambat and arrested many for violating instructions of the district administration in view of the outbreak.

Meanwhile, the residents expressed serious concern over free movement on main Chakdara entry and exit points where, according to reports, no proper arrangements had been made for screening of travellers and most of the travellers were entering the district without proper screening.

A doctor in Chakdara told The News on condition of anonymity that he was asked to conduct screening of travellers bound to enter the district on the main Chakdara entry point. “Following the directives when I reached there along with my personal thermometer and a mask only, I found five buses carrying hundreds of members of Tableeghi Jamaat standing on the main Chakdara entry point,” he said and questioned how it was possible to conduct screening on such a large number of travellers with one thermometer only.