The third Covid 19 positive patient in Kangra, Sarla Devi, a resident of Dobh village in Shahpur sub division, also tested negative in the test conducted in Tanda medical college yesterday.

Sarla Devi had come back to Kangra from Dubai on March 18. After about 12 days of hospitalization she has now tested negative. District health authorities said that another test would be performed on her tomorrow before she is discharged from hospital.

The other Covid 19 positive patient from Kangra, Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Lunj village, was discharged from Tanda medical college March 30. The third Covid positive patient from Kangra, a Tibetan , had died in Tanda medical college on March 23.

Shimla : Some 15 people from Himachal Pradesh are believed to have attended a religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin and have been quarantined in the national capital, government sources said.

Sources in the Himachal government said the dispensation had received a list of 15 residents who attended the event have been quarantined by Delhi’s Disease Surveillance Officer.

They were forced to remain in Delhi because of the nationwide lockdown imposed in an effort to stop the deadly coronavirus from spreading.

At least eight people are believed to have belonged to Chamba district—including Saloonit and Churah tensils—and one from Kullu’s Bhuntar.

“So far we have information only about these 15 persons from Himachal who attended the religious congregation in Delhi,” RD Dhiman, the state’s additional chief secretary of health, said.

Shimla : To restrict movement during curfew relaxation, the district administration today started the home delivery of grocery items. It also released the list of 58 stores willing to provide service in all 34 wards under the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

“The home delivery facility has been started in the city from 9 am to 5 pm. Over 500 volunteers have come forward to help. The list of chemists will be uploaded on the Facebook page of the district administration tomorrow for home delivery of medicines,” said Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap.

He said 60 persons going to UP were stopped at the Shoghi barrier and urged to stay back. Arrangements had been made for their stay and food, he said, adding that the quarantine facility was available in the district at the Shoghi barrier, the Kuddu barrier at Rohru and at the Fadis bridge in Nerva sharing the border with Uttarakhand.

“If people did not stop moving, we will be compelled to quarantine them,” said the DC.

He said more quarantine centres would be made functional in the buildings of government college hostels, schools and hospitals.

Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager-cum-State-level Coordinator, Oil Industry, Anil Kumar Singh said there were a total of 208 LPG distributors catering to around 19.50 lakh consumers and 494 retail outlets. There was no shortage of LPG in the state.

Meanwhile, 15 persons were arrested for violation of curfew in the state, taking the tally of the accused to 302. As many as 114 vehicles have been impounded and a fine of Rs 7,600 imposed on the violators.

240 tourists stranded in HP

At least 240 tourists, including 140 international, are stranded in the state due to the countrywide lockdown. As many as 130 are stranded in Kangra district, 97 in Kullu district, nine in Sirmaur, three in Shimla and one in Chamba. Arrangements have been made for their stay and food. Instructions have been issued to district tourism officials to ensure that they are comfortable. The tourists could not be allowed to go before April 14 due to the curfew, said Director, Tourism, Yunus.

The drone was used on The Ridge, The Mall, IGMC, Lakkar Bazaar, Sanjauli and Lower Bazaar areas to ensure that there was no gathering of people.

It was used to map activities and ensure that people did not gather in large numbers and maintained social distancing, said DGP SR Mardi. A control room would inform the nearest police station and patrolling vehicles about any activity spotted by the drone.

Congested areas like The Mall Road, The Ridge, temples and main bazaars were surveyed and no crowding was spotted. There was no panic and people were disciplined during the curfew relaxation and maintained distance, maybe because they had been assured of the regular supply of essential items.

Four cases of curfew violations were registered today, taking the total number of cases in the past four days to 189. As many as 269 persons were arrested, including 19 under preventive sections, and 91 vehicles plying without valid permission were impounded. For the first time, a fine of Rs 4,000 was imposed on the violators at Baddi.

Shimla : While the entire focus remains on maintaining supply of essential commodities in urban areas, the farmers and villages in rural areas are facing difficulty in getting medicines and farm inputs like pesticides, spray oils and other equipment.

The farmers rue that they are facing hardship in carrying out their essential farm activities which are supposed to be done at this time of the year owing to restrictions on their movement. As there are no government guidelines with regard to allowing farmers to purchase farm inputs, they are unable to use their vehicles to pick up the material from the shops located in Theog, Shimla, Chopal, Kotkhai Jubbal and Rohru.

Urging CM Jai Ram Thakur to prepare guidelines for them, the farmers say in the absence of clear guidelines, the police and other officials are not allowing their vehicular movement to fetch inputs for harvesting, transporting and selling and carrying their goods and essentials like pesticides, spray oils, repairs of machines to the nearest township.

The patients also continue to face shortage of essential and live saving drugs in Chopal, Nerwa and other places. “The administration should either direct local private chemists to get the life-saving drugs from Shimla, Theog and Solan or the administration should ensure the delivery of the medicines in these rural areas”, said Balbir Singh Jhagta, a prostrate patient. Many patients are facing shortage of medicines here as there is just one chemist here.

Farmers lamented how the administration expects them to get supplies from towns like Shimla and Theog from the villages located 60 km to 100 away on foot, said Surender Chauhan, a farmer.

Source : The Tribune

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said senior citizens must be given priority as they cannot be made to stand in long queues to make purchases from shops during curfew relaxation.

Talking to The Tribune, Thakur said direction had been issued to all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to ensure that all elderly persons and senior citizens are not made to wait in queues to get essential commodities. “I have told the DCs and SPs through video conferencing to tell the staff regulating public during curfew relaxation to give priority to senior citizens,” he said.

Testing facility at Mandi, Kasauli

We are pursuing the issue of creating testing facility at zonal hospital, Mandi and Central Research Institute, Kasauli, also so that the entire state is adequately covered though I feel testing facilities at the IGMC, Shimla, and Tanda are sufficient. — Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister

One could see several elderly persons standing in long queues for very long to get their turn to purchase essential commodities.

He said the officials are in constant touch with suppliers outside the state to ensure that there is no dearth of essential commodities like vegetables, milk, pulses and food grains. “There is apprehension that with supply chain from other states being affected, there could shortage but the officials are working on it,” he assured. He also said officials had been directed to ensure residents do not face any problem in getting medicines and LPG cylinders.

He said it would take a day or two for the system to get streamlined as initially there are bound to be teething problems. He urged people not to indulge in panic buying or hoarding as this would deprive many others of essential commodities. “Since regular supply will be maintained there is no need for stocking unnecessarily,” he said.

He said there is no cause for panic and the only thing to be kept in mind by every citizen is to stay home and ensure own safety and those of others. Thakur said those who had travel history from the high risk countries in particular and from abroad as well had been home quarantined as a precautionary measure. “Health teams and the district administration is in touch with them and tests of only those who are symptomatic are being done,” he elaborated.

In several parts Himachal Pradesh people queued-up to purchase essential items, indulged in panic-buying and flouted social-distancing norms on Thursday.

People queued up at ration and daily-need shops in Shimla as the curfew was relaxed for three hours and markets opened-up after three days.

Social-distancing norms were not followed as huge crowds emerged at the main markets, especially at Subzi Mandi and the Lower Bazaar.

People beelined to markets as they claimed there is uncertainty about how long the lockdown will continue for and engaged in panic-buying.

One way traffic was restored to the Subzi Mandi. Senior citizens, who did not have a caretaker, were harassed and forced to stand in long queues.

Shimla : Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today held video conferencing with Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, Chief Medical Officers and District Food and Civil Supplies Controllers of all districts from Shimla to take stock of the situation in the wake of 21-day lockdown in the country as well as in the state due to corona outbreak.

The CM urged the people to remain indoors as the government had taken this step keeping in view their safety as corona virus was a pandemic. He said that action would be taken against violators under Clinical Establishment Act or Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and sections of the IPC.

The Chief Minister directed the officers to ensure availability of essential commodities in their respective districts. He said that necessary steps should be taken to check hoarding and profiteering of essential commodities and stringent actions must be taken against the defaulters.

He directed the Deputy Commissioners to ensure adequate social distancing between person to person during the relaxation of curfew period. He also asked them to involve functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions as they were the grass root functionaries in the villages as well as urban local bodies in maintaining social distancing. He said that shopkeepers must provide sanitizers to the consumers visiting their shops during the hours of relaxation.

He also asked them to give preference to senior citizens in providing goods during the relaxation period.

Thakur directed the police and other law and order enforcement agencies to ensure social distancing while relaxation in curfew for purchasing the daily needs items like milk, bread and vegetables etc. He said that administration of bordering districts of the state should also ensure that borders were completely sealed and outsiders were not allowed to enter their territories.

The Chief Minister directed the Chief Medical Officers to ensure availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including N-95 masks in all the health institutions of their districts. He said that the government had already decided to postpone the date of payment of various public utility bills like electricity, water etc. without any extra charges. He also felt the need for proper coordination between various government departments as well as NGOs for effective implementation of curfew.

He said the state government had already closed temples in the state but several in rural areas were open. He directed the district administration to curb any social gathering in the rural areas during curfew relaxation hours.

He also asked the district administration to make adequate arrangements to ensure availability of spray, fertilizers and insecticides etc. to the farmers. He said shops selling such items must also be brought under the ambit of essential commodities.

Shimla District Magistrate Amit Kashyap on Wednesday ordered a relaxation of the curfew from 8 am to 11 am on Thursday for buying essential commodities like milk, bread, medicines, and groceries.

The order issued by the District Magistrate stated that nobody would be allowed to roam around on the roads and public places.

The government order will be enforced and the entire state will be on lockdown.

This would ensure complete self-isolation and social distancing for 24 hours to check the spread of the virus in the entire district.

Throwing curfew directions to the winds, people were seen moving out of their houses even without any objective of buying essential items.

Even bike riders were seen moving about with ease as were the car riders in violation of the directions, where only essential items could be purchased from 8 am to 12 am and movement of vehicles were banned.

People assembled on the roads to gossip as if there were no curfews.

Little done by the police to enforce directions in various parts of Solan district.

Source : The Tribune

Curfew was imposed in Kangra and Una sdistrict of Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday afternoon.

First, it was imposed in Covid-hit Kangra; later, Una was also added to the list to stem the  spread of the virus.

Earlier, Kangra district was under lockdown since two persons had tested positive for coronavirus on March 21.

On Monday, a 69-year-old Tibetan who had returned from the US and tested positive for coronavirus died at Tanda medical college. After that the administration sealed McLeodganj and nobody was allowed in and out of the hill station.

On Tuesday afternoon curfew was imposed in the entire district. Now nobody would be allowed to move out of homes.

The shops for essential commodities would open only for limited notified time and people would be allowed to buy provisions in notified timing only.  Kangra is the only district of Himachal where three people have tested positive for coronavirus.

It also recorded the first death due to coronavirus.

The  DC said curfew was being imposed as people were not adhering to the lockdown. Now any vehicle or person roaming around without any reason would be booked and arrested. With PTI

Even as uncertainty prevails over curtailment of the Budget session which will resume on March 23, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today sought cooperation for the success of Janata curfew, to be observed today.

While presiding over an all-party meeting held here today, the Chief Minister urged leaders of all political parties of the state to give their wholehearted support to the state government to check the spread of the Covid. In fact, he is learnt to have called up many Opposition legislators to ensure the success of the curfew.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, state BJP president Rajeev Bindal, state Congress president Kuldeep Rathore, CPM MLA Rakesh Singha, BSP leader Suresh Saini and CPI leader Roshan Lal Dogra attended the meet. Education, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Bhardwaj were also present. All the leaders pledged their support to the government for checking the spread of the virus.

Thakur said the state government would take strict action against persons who refrained from quarantine. He said the state government had asked five firms for bulk manufacturing of sanitisers.

Source : The Tribune

The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBSE) has postponed all examinations for Classes 10 to 12 that were scheduled for on March 23, Monday.

The board, in its order issued on Saturday, said the examinations had been postponed till further orders due to coronavirus outbreak.

All practical examinations have also been postponed.

Meanwhile, Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said Section 144 of the CrPC would be invoked strictly in the district from Saturday.

All government offices would deal only with emergency cases.

There was panic in Kangra district after two patients tested positive at Tanda medical college.

The district administration of Kangra has issued directions to quarantine all foreign tourists who are presently travelling in the district. The hotel owners where the foreign tourists are staying have been asked to ensure that they do not go out and mix with local population.

Sources here said that 14 tourists from France who were staying in Nobulingka monastery in Dharamsala had planned a local tour in the area. When the administration got information regarding it, directions were issued that the foreign tourists should remain indoors in the monastery.

Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Rakesh Prajapati, when contacted, admitted that directions were issued to hoteliers to quarantine all foreign tourists presently staying in Dharamsala.

Shimla : Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, during an interaction with the media, said eight suspected cases of coronavirus had been reported in the state and their test reports were negative. The state government was taking effective steps to check the spread of the virus in the state.

He said nodal officers had been appointed at state and district levels to monitor the situation. Helpline 104 had also been activated. He said that to deal with the situation, quick reaction teams had been posted at the state and district levels.

The Chief Minister said that isolation wards had been set up at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla and Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda.

Separate wards had been identified in district hospitals. Besides, a quarantine facility had been created in Shimla, Mandi and Dharamsala.

Thakur said that personal preventive instruments and N-95 masks had been made available in all district hospitals and medical colleges. He said various steps had been taken to spread awareness among people regarding coronavirus.

He said that buses were being sanitised in the state and passengers being educated about the virus. He said that those coming from foreign countries were being quarantined and the Health Department was taking regular update of their health condition.

Thakur said that as a precautionary measure schools, colleges and universities of the state had been closed till March 31. A ban had been imposed on organising fairs, festivals and sports tournaments across the state.

Source : The Tribune

All temples in Kangra and Una districts are being closed down from Tuesday afternoon due to coronavirus, by the respective district administrations.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said the Shiva temple in Baijnath was closed on Monday. The Brajeshwari Devi temple in Kangra, the Jawalamukhi temple, the Chamunda temple and the Baglamukhi temples are being closed down on Tuesday, he said.

The temples were expected to receive a large number of devotees due to Navratri beginning March 25.

The Deputy Commissioner said web and YouTube channels would be used to provide ‘darshan; to devotees.

Only the staff would be allowed into temples from Tuesday afternoon.

The Dalai Lama temple at McLeodganj would also be closed from Wednesday.

Una Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar said the devotees coming for the Chintpurni temple are being stopped at the state border and sent back after counselling on coronavirus.

Tourism industry of Kullu-Manali is on the edge in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak in India. The hotel industry of Kullu-Manali is feeling the pinch for the last one week as there has been no advance booking for stay in Manali.

Foreign tourists form the backbone of the hotel industry in Kullu-Manali as lakhs of people from different countries visit these hill stations every year. In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Union Government has restricted the movement of foreign visitors and decided to cancel visas that had been granted to nationals from Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan on or before March 3.

The hoteliers of Kullu-Manali are worried about the upcoming tourist season because the impact of Covid-19 on tourism industry is clearly visible now. If the situation remains the same, it would have a drastic impact on the industry here.

Hoteliers of Kullu-Manali say there has been a sharp decline in new bookings. They say every year beginning mid-March, their business begins to increase and by April, the tourist season is on full swing. Domestic and foreign tourists start booking in advance for their stay in April or May but this time, there are no such queries.

The hoteliers of Kullu-Manali are demanding a “tax holiday” and monetary compensation from state and Union Government to sustain themselves. After horticulture and agriculture sectors, tourism is the biggest sector, which provides employment to people. In Kullu district, the livelihood of hundreds of families is dependent on the tourism industry.

Talking to The Tribune, Anup Thakur, president of hoteliers association of Kullu-Manali, said the Covid-19 outbreak would have a drastic impact on the tourism industry in the coming days.

Intense cold wave conditions continued in Himachal as higher reaches and tribal areas received fresh snowfall and widespread rain lashed middle and lower hills. Thunderstorm accompanied by sleet and sharp showers hit the region.

Gondla received 45 cm of fresh snow while Kalpa recorded 20 cm of snow, followed by Kothi, Keylong and Khadrala with 15 cm, Udaipur with 12 cm, Kufri 10 cm and Pooh and Bharmaur with 5 cm of snow.

A severe thunderstorm accompanied by sleet and showers lashed Shimla and surrounding areas and dark clouds overcast the sky, reducing visibility to just a few metres, disrupting vehicular traffic. A large number of tourists thronged Shimla and adjoining areas and made a beeline to Kufri to enjoy the snow.

The local MeT office had issued an orange warning of heavy rain accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds with a speed of 30-40 kmph in lower hills and heavy rain/snow and thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and gusty winds with a speed of 30-40 kmph in mid hills for Thursday. The region witnessed intermittent rains and storm, forcing people to stay indoors. The MeT office predicted rain at most places in middle and higher hills from March 13 to March 18, except on March 16.

Widespread rains occurred in the state and Dalhousie and Kothi received 68 mm and 60 mm rains, followed by Dharamshala with 49 mm, Sangrah 47 mm, Ghumarwin 46 mm, Kheri 45 mm, Chamba 43 mm, Kandaghat and Renuka 40 mm, Paonta Sahib, Gaggal, Bilaspur and Naina Devi 34 mm, Manali, Tissa Sujanpur Tira 33 mm, Pachhad, Mehre and Palampur 32 mm, Guler and Nadaun 31 mm, Nurpur and Banjar 29 mm, Hamirpur 28 mm, Kasauli, Baijnath and Una 25 mm, Sangla 24 mm, Shimla and Nahan with 18 mm of rain.

The minimum temperatures remained below normal and Keylong was the coldest with a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, followed by Kalpa with minus 0.9, Manali minus 0.8, Kufri minus 0.7, Dalhousie 0.8, Shimla 2.5, Palampur 7, Bhuntar 7.3, Solan 7.5, Dharamsala 7.6, Sundernagar 8.7, Una 11.2 and Nahan 13.3 degrees Celsius.

The maximum day temperatures fluctuated marginally and Nahan was the hottest during the day with a high of 21.7 degrees Celsius, Sundernagar with 21.6, Bhuntar 21.3, Una 20.7, Solan 19, Shimla 15, Dharamsala 12.8, Manali 11.4, Kalpa 8.4, Kufri 4.9 and Keylong 0.5 degrees Celsius.

Rainfall Recorded\
Dalhousie 68 mm
Kothi 60 mm
Dharamsala 49 mm

Rs 1,919 crores is stuck in 32,000 accounts in various Yes Bank branches in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur announced on Thursday.

Speaking in the Vidhan Sabha, Thakur castigated the opposition Congress for creating an atmosphere of “fear and panic” among the people.

“Please do not play politics on sensitive issues like coronavirus or the Yes Bank crisis,” he said.

Thakur stated the total amount of deposits of the Himachal Government as well as private depositors in the crisis-hit bank in the assembly.

On Wednesday, Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri had said that a large sum of money of the Himachal government was stuck in Yes Bank deposits. He had sought a clarification from the government on why the money was deposited in Yes Bank when there were several nationalised banks.

Thakur said that a sum of Rs 1,349 crore was deposited in Yes Bank during the Congress regime before December 31, 2017, and Rs 1,244 crore was deposited by the BJP government.

“I urge people not to panic or create fear as the Government of India has assured that the depositor’s money is safe and an administrator has been appointed to resolve the matter,” he added.

Thakur said Rs 1,375 crore of the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Bank, Rs 499 crore of the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB), Rs 304 crore of the HP Infrastructure Development Board, Rs 36.80 crore of the HP Power Corporation Ltd and Rs 379 of Smart City Dharamshala had been deposited in Yes Bank.

The chief minister also hit back at Agnihotri by stating that it was wrong on his part to allege that Yes bank was “promoted” by the government.

“The only reason why the previous Congress regime and then our BJP government made deposits in Yes Bank was probably due to the higher rate of interest,” he said.

The issue led to a lot uproar when the CM said the owner and founder of Yes bank, Rana Kapoor, had paid Rs two crore to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for a painting.

“Do I need to say more as to who promoted Yes Bank,” said Thakur.

Agnihotri shot back by stating that the BJP should reveal as to who paid Rs 10 crore for PM Modi’s suit and why Nirav Modi was allowed to flee the country.

The cold spell was slated to extend for a couple of days more in Himachal as many places in the hill state were likely to witness rain and moderate snow, weather officials said on Wednesday.

Most prominent tourist places like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Manali, and Dalhousie, located in the mid-hills, may witness moderate snowfall between March 12 and 13, the weatherman said.

Most parts of Himachal continued to shiver, with Manali and state capital Shimla recording 4.8 degrees Celsius. Shimla had received snow on March 7, apart from Kufri, Mashobra and Narkanda.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state at minus 4 degrees.

The minimum temperature was zero degree in Kalpa, 2.8 degrees in Dalhousie, 1.3 degrees in Kufri, and 8.8 degrees in Dharamsala town, the venue of the ODI between India and South Africa on March 12.