LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar paid a surprise visit to different areas of the city on Monday night and inspected implementation of smart lockdown, directing the officials to shift people sleeping on the roads to shelter homes and improve cleanliness of the city.

He spent three hours on the city roads without any protocol and telephonically issued directions to different departments, including district administration, police personnel and officials of the Lahore Waste Management Company.

He directed the deputy commissioner to shift people found sleeping in a park near Liberty to the shelter home and expressed displeasure over garbage spread in some areas and directed the LWMC officials to improve the cleanliness arrangements.

The CM reprimanded the officials over poor sanitation conditions during raids at Mughalpura and Shadman police stations.

Law minister, CS inspect lockdown situation in markets

Meanwhile, he chaired a meeting at his office to review arrangements for Eid. He directed to ensure foolproof security arrangements for protecting the life and property of citizens. Security of Eid congregations should be ensured at every cost, he added and made it clear that any violation of SOPs will not be tolerated in cattle markets and further directed to take legal action in case of violation.

The Punjab government has decided to set up a control room at Local Government Board for the monitoring of cleanliness arrangements and directed that best cleanliness arrangements should be ensured in the whole of the province and citizens complaints be immediately redressed. The garbage and animal waste should be properly disposed of, the CM directed.

“I will go to the field to personally monitor the ground situation. The best arrangements should be made and commissioners and DCs should personally monitor cleanliness arrangements so that they are visible to everyone. The first three best performing districts will be rewarded for cleanliness and poor performers will be held accountable,” he said.

Also, Law Minister Raja Basharat and Chief Secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik on Tuesday paid a surprise visit to various parts of the city to review the enforcement of the smart lockdown and arrangements in cattle markets.

The law minister and the chief secretary reviewed the situation in various markets of the city including Liberty and Johar Town and issued instructions to the CCPO to deploy more police personnel.

They said that the government’s measure helped control the coronavirus pandemic but carelessness could lead to the resurgence of the disease. They said that the smart lockdown is inevitable in the prevailing situation and it would be strictly enforced.

Raja Basharat said that the decision of smart lockdown ahead of Eidul Azha was taken in the public interest and the government would continue taking steps to protect the people from Covid-19.

During the visit to a cattle sale point on Pine Road, the chief secretary expressed displeasure over the absence of a sample collection team of the Health Department for coronavirus testing. He warned that the instructions issued must be complied with in letter and spirit as no negligence would be tolerated. The CS had directed the Primary Health Department to set up a special counter for screening at the entry points of every cattle market.

The chief secretary said the government’s efforts to control virus were facing a major challenge on the occasion of Eid, adding that no compromise could be made on protection of health and lives of people. He said that there was a risk of coronavirus spread due to rush in the markets before Eid, so a smart lockdown was enforced, keeping in view the experience of Eidul Fitr.

The chief secretary said that collective efforts are needed to eradicate the coronavirus from the country.

“The prime minister and the Punjab chief minister have appealed to people to celebrate Eid with simplicity. People should consider this Eid as a different one and take all precautionary measures while showing responsibility,” he stated.

The CS said the implementation of SOPs in cattle markets should be ensured. He directed that special arrangements be made for cleanliness in these markets and facilities be provided to cattle sellers. He said that only a specific number of buyers should be allowed to enter the cattle markets to ensure social distancing.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2020