With improvement in situation at Lakhanpur, the authorities have managed to reduce halt timing of the commuters to 10 - 15 minutes as a result almost 2500 LMVs and 2800 trucks passed through the inter-UT/State border in last 24 hours.
The process of entry and exit of passengers has been improved by augmenting covid-19 testing facility and additional requirement of counters have resulted in reducing the halt-age time of passengers to 10 to15 minutes maximum.
The HMV and LMV counters have also been increased by opening more counters to avoid heavy rush and sampling points (counters) have also been increased from 6 to 12 which has increased efficiency and reduced time to handle the commuters at the entry point. The easing out procedure has increased the incoming and outgoing people as a result of which 6000 to 7000 passengers daily enter into J&K or go out of the UT through Lakhanpur.
Meanwhile, the separate green counters have been set-up for HMV-LMV Kathua based passengers to cater to daily travelling. The supporting staff from the Higher Education Department has been deployed at all the newly established counters to augment arrangements of already existing manpower.
The Government had appointed Talat Parvez, Commissioner Secretary Higher Education Department, as overall in-charge at Lakhanpur to oversee movement of passengers.
With his appointment, management arrangements saw a change in delivery system and public service has also been improved in the shortest time period. In this arrangement, the inter-state buses drop their passengers and labourers at Lakhanpur and then they board SRTC buses after being tested for COVID-19 using Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) kits.
The negative passengers/labourers and commuters are allowed to proceed towards their destinations and the people including drivers, if detected positive, are being shifted to COVID-19 care centres established in Kathua district.
Besides, commuters traveling in their own vehicles have to make self-declaration at Lakhanpur and this has also helped the management to reduce halt timing. Around 100 drivers daily get tested for COVID19 on their entry into Jammu and Kashmir from Lakhanpur and the positive drivers are being shifted to COVID care centres.
The SOPs for ailing people and ambulances are being followed strictly but they are being helped at Lakhanpur to proceed towards their destinations without difficulties amid observance of all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) described under COVID-19 measures.