Tripura: COVID strike in land port as trans-border trade to remain close till Jun 12

The trans-border trade between in India and Bangladesh had come to an unprecedented standstill after a strike of the COVID 19 in the Akhuara integrated check-post in Tripura. Not less than 9 ICP people that included a doctor, BSF Jawans and some of the ICP officials tested positive to the COVID 19 on June 6 last.

Reportedly, the samples of the officials were collected on June 4 and the reports that had come on June 6 shown 9 people on Covid duty to be positive. As soon as the reports came, the Tripura government decided to stop all the activities in the Akhuara land port for 2 days. Subsequently, the traders’ body had decided to stop export import for a few more days.

“We have decided to stop any kind of border transactions until June 12. The India-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce has also wrote its Bangladesh counterpart to ensure proper sanitization of the check post located in the Bangladesh side to prevent any further eventuality. We are hopeful of resuming trade once the situation gets normal. Some problems for the North Eastern States will surely emerge as huge consignment of goods use to come through the second largest land port of the country”, a trader associated with India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce said.

Meanwhile, the government has already initiated the process to test all the officials of the land port right from labors to the immigration in order to ascertain whether the virus spread among more people or remained confined to the already found out people only.

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A higher health official of the state government also added, “The sudden strike of Covid 19 in the land port left us in a bit of unforeseen situation. We will complete testing of everyone—people from immigration to the day wager engaged in the Integrated Check Post so that we can trace every infected person. It is necessary to make the area isolated unless and until we trace out every infected person to thwart the virus from spreading. The close contact list people who have been there in last few days is also being prepared for screening”.

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