Villages take to theekri pehra to tackle Covid-19

Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, April 3

As people in villages were not staying in their homes and abiding with the norms of curfew imposed by the state government, most villages of Jalandhar have now taken to holding theekri pehras.

There are nearly 900 villages in Jalandhar. The Jalandhar rural police have reports that over 90 per cent of these villages have youngsters who are engaging themselves in guarding their villages round the clock against the spread of coronavirus.

SP (headquarters), Jalandhar rural police, Ravinder Pal Sandhu, said: “We have suggested sarpanches of villages to ask some village youths to be alert and volunteer to stand at entry and exit points of villages. Most of them are abiding with the guidelines as they feel that it is in their interest.”

Sarpanch of Bir Pind near Nakodar Inderjit Kaur said: “We have four main connecting roads to the village. We have deputed two boys at each entry point. At any given point of time, there are eight youths working. They have been instructed not to allow entry and exit of anyone till it is for an essential service. A roster has been prepared so that the youths work in tandem day and night.”

Meanwhile, the Jalandhar rural police today registered three FIRs against perpetrators flouting the norms by spotting them through drone. Senior Superintendent of Police Navjot Singh Mahal said three FIRs had been registered after drones deployed by the Jalandhar rural police spotted three violators flouting the norms. He said drone spotted two violators in Kartarpur and one in Nakodar. Mahal said more drones would be pressed into service and vigil would be enhanced.

The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) said the drone would be used to keep an eagle eye over the violators who would flout the curfew norms. He said the drones were being stationed at strategic locations in Kartarpur, Shahkot, Nakodar, Phillaur, Nurmahal and other places to keep an eye over the entire situation. He said violations, if any, noticed by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would be dealt as per the law of land.

The Senior Superintendent of Police said the move was aimed at ensuring strict compliance of the curfew orders.

He said curfew had been imposed for the betterment of people so that the spread of the virus could be checked effectively. Mahal said every effort was being made to check the spread of the pandemic, adding that these UAVs could cover the area of 2 km in all directions and could go up to a height of 200 metres.

Meanwhile, the SSP said the Jalandhar rural police had registered 167 FIRs against violators since the imposition of curfew and had arrested 259 offenders so far.