A bench of justices was hearing public interest lawsuit, seeking better facilities at quarantine centres
Amid the ongoing anti-COVID fight, the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday asked all district administrations in Uttar Pradesh to vigorously enforce the social distancing norms and wearing of masks among people.
The court also appointed two advocate commissioners and directed them to submit their joint report on measures being taken by the government to check the spread of the pandemic in the city.
A bench of justices Siddhartha Varma and Ajit Kumar gave the directions while hearing a public interest lawsuit, seeking better facilities at quarantine centres.
As per the bench's earlier directions, both the Allahabad District Magistrate (DM) and Superintendent of Police (SP) attended the court proceeding through video conference and apprised the bench of various anti-COVID measures being taken by the district administration.
The two officers submitted to the bench that Prayagraj is one of the seven districts in Uttar Pradesh where the state government is intensively monitoring the situation.
They sought to assure the bench as per the state government's circular dated August 6 and 17, they are strictly enforcing the social distancing norms and seeking to ensure that people do not venture outside their homes without wearing face masks.
The Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) also sought to assure the court that the police would be setting up pickets at various vantage points to restrict people's unnecessary movement.
The bench slated the next hearing of the case on August 25, hoping that by then, the district administration will have a better grip over the situation.