Social and youth outfits in Jharia have taken up the onus of spreading awareness on ways to check the spread of coronavirus across various sections of the society.

On Sunday, Youth Concept and Samadhan organised two separate awareness programmes at Durgapur Kusth Colony in Dhanbad and Bank Mor market to apprise people of the dos and don’ts to keep the deadly virus at bay.

While the programme among the residents of Durgapur Kusth Colony was organised from 11.30am to 1pm, the

one among the shopkeepers was held from 1.30pm to 2.30pm.

Manoj Singh, a physiotherapist and one of founding members of Youth Concept, said: “We selected the lepers’ colony for the programme because their immunity levels are usually lower and they are more susceptible infections.”

Akhlaque Ahmad, a speech therapist at the resource centre for the specially-abled children in Jharia and a founding member of Youth Concept, said besides distributing leaflets with the dos and don’ts written on them, the members of the outfit also showed colony residents the proper way to wash hands with soap.

“We had planned to distribute masks and sanitizers, but couldn’t do it because of the shortage. We advised them to cover their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs or towels while sneezing,” Ahmad added.

A railway employee and a passenger, both with faces covered, at Dhanbad station.

Sukhdeo Mahto, 26, a resident of Durgapur Kusth Colony, lauded the effort.

“The 90-minute programme was informative and made a impact among the women and children who are generally ignorant about the basic health and hygiene,” he said.

A similar programme by Samadhan targeted the shopkeepers at Bank Mor market and advised them to maintain a safe distance while dealing with customers besides using sanitizers and soaps to wash hands at regular intervals.

“We distributed around 50 masks among the shopkeepers today,” Samadhan founder Chandan Singh said.

A special sanitisation/disinfection drive was undertaken in trains such as Ganga Damodar Express (13329), Black Diamond Express (22388), Ganga Sutlej Express (13307) and Dhanbad Alapuzzah Express (13351) at Dhanbad station on Saturday night and Sunday.

A team of railway officers led by senior divisional commercial manager Akhilesh Kumar Pandey visited the station on Sunday and advised the employees, including travelling ticket collectors and the staff deputed at the ticket counters, to follow the general rule about maintaining hygiene and washing hands frequently.