Coronavirus: Winter Games to Happen in Gulmarg Despite Advisory Against Mass Gatherings

Srinagar: At a time when the Union Government has advised against mass gatherings in light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) epidemic, the Union Territory government in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is going ahead with holding Winter Games at the ski-resort in Gulmarg from Saturday.

Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju arrived in Srinagar on Friday and will attend the sports event at Gulmarg.

Even as the officials in the J&K sports council maintain that "they have made all arrangements", the games are being held at a time when the UT administration has also issued advisories to avoid any social, political and religious gatherings as a preventive measure against the outbreak which has claimed over 3300 lives and infected over a lakh people worldwide.

"The Health Department will screen all players at the Airport and on the National Highway to check coronavirus symptoms. In case of any exigency, the department will initiate immediate measures in the particular case," an official spokesperson said.

The first ever Winter Games under Khelo India, a national programme for the development of sports, will commence from March 7 and concludes on March 11. As many as 830 players from different parts of the country are expected to participate in 30 events including snow skiing, snow boarding, snow cycling and other snow-based events.

“The games will be attended by over 400 local players and nearly 400 participants are traveling from different parts of the country,” an official told NewsClick.

Aside from participants, scores of security personnel and officials from different government departments including health, power, disaster relief and concerned Magistrates and media professionals are also attending the event.   

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had advised states and organisations to postpone mass gatherings till the COVID-19 outbreak is contained. 

Thirty one people have tested positive for coronavirus in India so far. As a precautionary measure, a world sports shooting tournament in Delhi, which was scheduled from March 15, has been postponed.  

Owing to growing concerns around the spread of coronavirus, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force also issued orders to all formations and units to avoid mass gatherings, festivals, welfare activities and parties in order to stop epidemic from spreading. 

In the wake of the outbreak, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has also postponed its anniversary parade and other celebrations which were scheduled for March 13.

While events and functions are being postponed across the rest of the country, the Winter Games in Gulmarg have raised concerns among people in a region where no cases of coronavirus have been reported so far. "The administration should have taken a better decision at a time when the whole world is avoiding travel and mass gatherings. It is a global crisis and the government in Kashmir should not take things lightly," said Srinagar resident Muhammad Farooq.