The authorities at Kashmir University (KU) have asked the district administration Srinagar to review its decision on setting up a quarantine facility in one of the buildings at the university campus. The KU request came a day after the district administration Srinagar decided to utilize the “varsity hostel as accommodation for passengers besides other buildings at three locations of city”. “The executive magistrate 1st class (Tehsildar, North) shall take over the premises and provide all such facilities as required as per SOP. He will be assisted by SHO concerned for necessary security. Director Health Kashmir, Srinagar shall depute medical team on the above locations,” read an order issued by District Magistrate Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.However, the KU administration has “requested” the district administration to review the order in respect of the accommodation at the KU.“. . . the main campus of our university where the building is located is a residential campus, where a large number of staff members (both teaching and non-teaching) along with their families reside in the staff quarters located very near to the hostel,” reads a letter addressed to DC Srinagar from Registrar KU. The letter reads that Naseem Bagh side of the campus area is a substantially congested residential area “as lot of private houses are located in many colonies around it”.“The location has a hospital namely Regional Research Institute of Unani Medicine (RRIUM), Habak, Naseem Bagh in close vicinity which witnesses a considerable patient flow on day to day basis,” the letter reads.It states that the students putting up at the building have their belongings including study material and other credentials, certificates inside the hostel rooms which are still under lock and key of the boarders only, the KU Registrar in his letter said.Meanwhile a KU official said accommodating travelers at hostels will create panic among the boarders after their return, given the scare of infection and spread of COVID-19. “We have urged the administration to rethink over its decision,” he said.
