Assam: Nalbari & Dibrugarh Districts go into Lockdown Mode amid Corona Crisis

Guwahati, March 23, 2020:

Amid the skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases across the world (338,747 infections have been reported till date), two districts in Assam -- Nalbari and Dibrugarh -- have gone into lockdown mode.

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In Dibrugarh, in exercise of the power conferred upon under regulation 12 of the Assam COVID-19 regulation 2020, the District Magistrate, Dibrugarh has ordered closure of all shops, commercial establishments other than the following ones: pharmacies, clinical establishments. grocery and essential item shops, petrol pumps, LPG outlets., printing press, fish, meat, vegetable market (subject to maintenance of proper sanitation and hygienic condition).

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In Lower Assam's Nalbari also, the district administration has imposed a similar closure. The order will come into effect until further orders. Any violation of this order will invite punitive action under the Indian Penal Code.

It may be recalled here that yesterday, a situation of hue-and-cry erupted in Nalbari after a bus carrying 49 youths who had come back from other parts of the country screeched to a halt in Rowmari village. 5 of the youths in the bus were from the region, but they were prohibited from getting down by the locals.

The Kerala bus, that caused the situation of hue-and-cry, bore registration number KL-74A-3096, alarming locals. The bus had reportedly brought youths employed in Kerala, who had rented it in a bid to escape the corona-panic in the South Indian State. Locals avow that no less than 50 youths from Kerala had boarded the bus in a mad scramble to return home.

However, in a mad display, locals surrounded the bus, refusing the panic-stricken youths to get down from the bus, which resulted in absolute and utter chaos. Subsequently, a team of experts was summoned in order to examine the youths. Armed personnel were also called, who kept a vigil on the goings-on with keen interest.

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The local Doulasal youths, who disembarked in the Nalbari village, were physically assessed in Mukalmua, and were finally declared as “danger free”. They were then embraced into the village fold by the local headman, upon being cleared. Locals, meanwhile, continue to seethe at the 5 youths being let off with a primary assessment, without the standard checking protocol for COVID-19 patients.

One of the locals, describing the situation, told us that the alarm was raised around 10:30 am on Sunday, when a “super” arrived in the locality. “We did not let them disembark. We informed the Doulasal Police Station. They left 5 youths from Rowmari here and the village headman embraced them into the village, although the rest were taken to the Guwahati Medical College.”

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