The new East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Suraj Kumar, who took charge earlier this week, has already hit the streets to ensure people of the teel city and its neighbourhoods adhere to Covid protocols.
Accompanied by special officer of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JANC) Krishna Kumar and Jusco officials, Kumar went around Sakchi, Golmuri and Agrico to talk to people about wearing face masks and warn them for not following social distancing norms.
The new deputy commissioner, who ensured complete sanitisation of the district collectorate soon after he took charge, first went around the Sakchi market, where he spent considerable amount of time to ask shopkeepers as well as customers to follow Covid protocols.
He asked the officials accompanying him to ensure that the lanes within the market were free of encroachments. Kumar also told the JNAC special officer to remove all encroachments from Straight Mile Road, particularly the Patta Market, as vendors selling food plates made out of patta (leaves) often encroach on the busy thoroughfare that connects Sakchi with Bistupur.
The deputy commissioner then went to Golmuri market from where he moved to Agrico. There, he asked people loitering near the Transport Ground to go back to their homes and not crowd public places unnecessarily.
With the district seeing a daily a spike in Covid-19 cases, the deputy commissioner also directed authorities to ensure a ban on street food vendors at all places, particularly Agrico.
On Thursday, the steel city reported 39 positive Covid-19 cases taking the total count in East Singhbhum to over 750, the highest in the state. Jamshedpur has reported seven Covid deaths during the past two weeks.
Soon after taking charge on Tuesday, Kumar said that containing the spread of the coronavirus was his priority. Moreover, the district administration has already made it compulsory for people coming into East Singhbhum district from other states to undergo Covid-19 tests and stay quarantined till the arrival of reports.