To help the people of Meghalaya, who have remained stranded in Guwahati and other places due to unrest, the Meghalaya government has opened five helpline numbers.
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma on Friday held an emergent meeting with his cabinet colleagues in New Delhi on Friday to discuss the prevailing situation in the state.
Meghalaya speaker Metbah Lyngdoh was also present in the meeting.
The meeting discussed measures to ease public life and restore normalcy in view of the situation, and law and order problem in the neighbouring state of Assam with reports of students and public being stranded in Guwahati and Kolkata.
Due to massive protests against Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019, the situation in Guwahati turned volatile since Wednesday.
Curfew has been clamped and the Army deployed to tackle the situation in Guwahati.
Meanwhile, following incidents of violence reported from various parts of Shillong on Thursday, curfew was also imposed in various parts of Shillong.
Also read: Thousands protest in Shillong seeking ILP; tear gas cells fired
However, curfew was relaxed on Friday up to 10 pm.
But mobile internet and SMS services have remained suspended in the entire Meghalaya.
Also read: Internet, SMS services in Meghalaya suspended for 48 hours
On Friday, thousands of protestors took out a procession in Shillong and gathered in front of Raj Bhavan demanding implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and in protest against the CAB, 2019.
Tear gas cells were fired on the protestors to disperse them.
Also read: Shops vandalized, cars torched; curfew imposed in Shillong
The Meghalaya government has urged the public to reach out for assistance through the helpline numbers, who are stranded in Shillong or any other parts of the state.
The helpline numbers are — 7640908749, 9854028087, 0364-222855, 2227050, 9774618462.
The helicopter service between Shillong – Guwahati has been increased to three sorties (three times daily).
The passengers stranded in Kolkata can use the service of flight from Kolkata to Shillong, which resumes from Saturday.
“The government has made adequate arrangements to provide relief materials in all districts of the state. The administration can be reached out for assistance if any,” said a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, Meghalaya.