J&K to open parks, gardens for public despite virus scare

Even as three more COVID-19 patients died in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday taking the toll to 143 and also 256 new cases of the virus surfaced in the Union Territory, the authorities announced that Srinagar’s famed Mughal gardens and other public parks would be reopened for general public on Wednesday.

Baseer Ahmed Khan, one of the advisors to Lieutenant Governor, said that gardens and parks in other parts of J&K too would be thrown open for general public from July 8 in view of the gradual unlocking process of pandemic across the country.

He, however, said that all the visitors to these places should strictly observe the already given protocols and medical advises related to COVID-19 from time to time.
He requested the general public to wear face masks, use hand sanitizers and maintain social distancing norms both inside and outside these picnic spots and asked the authorities to penalize those found violating the precautionary measures.

A spokesman of the J&K Floriculture Department said that it would be using thermal screening at the entrances of all these gardens and parks to check visitors for any COVID-19 symptoms. “Hand sanitizers would also be made available by the department for the use of visitors”, he said.