A special train carrying 1,140 people from Manipur, who were stranded in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) due to the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain Covid-19 pandemic, left for their home state.
The non-stop train which left Chennai on Sunday evening is expected to arrive at Jiribam, which is Manipur’s only railway station, on or before Wednesday (May 13), Assam Tribune reported.
On May 9, the state consultative committee for Covid-19 had decided 14 days compulsory quarantine for the train returnees at government and community quarantine centres after their arrival in the state.
For this, the state government has made preparations by sending 50 buses from Imphal to pick up the returnees.
The authorities of Jiribam district where the rail head is located, is setting up 10 separate screening counters with 8 temporary toilets, sources said.
In case the train arrives late in the evening, the screening may be done inside the coaches and the passengers shall stay in the train overnight till arrangements are made for bus movement early in the morning, according to a standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the government to facilitate smooth transport and screening of stranded people of the State.
The SOP also asked all the stranded persons to compulsorily register their names in the state government website (www.tengbang.in) as well as at the web portals of respective state governments where they are presently located.
Since the trains are run on non-stop mode from station of origin to station of destination, the first priority would be given to locations where the number of stranded people is sufficient to run a train. Only medically fit persons would be allowed to travel, said the SOP.
Meanwhile, Manipur Covid-19 common control room in Imphal has urged persons who visited these institutes during the last 21 days for medical or other reasons are requested to contact the Covid-19 common control room helpline number 1800 345 3818 without fail.
Informing this in a press note on Sunday evening, Additional Director and spokesperson Dr Khoirom Sasheekumar Mangang of the Health Department said that a post-graduate student of Guwahati Medical College and a relative of a staff of Dr B Barooah Cancer Institute in Guwahati were found Covid-19 positive on May 7.