Himachal: Unhindered movement from border areas increases risk

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 20

There has been a huge spike in Covid cases, but the state government is dithering over dealing with the situation firmly. The unhindered movement of people from border areas without any check will put the lives of people at risk. Though the administrations of the border districts of Kangra and Una are keen on imposing curbs on the entry of people from places such as Delhi and Punjab, the government has not taken any decision in this regard, possibly fearing public resentment.

10,000 entered state

According to an estimate, more than 10,000 people entered Himachal from the Una border the day the lockdown was enforced in Delhi.

“Should people not behave responsibly? There is no check at the inter-state borders. We feel people should also behave responsibly, as it is not just the job of the government to enforce rules,” said Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur when asked about enforcing stricter restrictions. Increasing testing to over 10,000 has also been demanded for the vigorous detection and isolation of infected people, especially after the recent elections in Mandi, Dharamsala, Solan and Palampur.

“Random checking of people returning from the Kumbh Mela to the Arki area in Solan district led to the detection of 16 positive cases. So, should there be no curbs on all such returnees,” asked a helpless officer. The decision of the Una administration, one of the worst hit districts, to check all public carriers and put some checks at the border areas was deferred for reasons best known to the higher authorities. According to a rough estimate, more than 10,000 people entered Himachal from the Una border the day the lockdown was enforced in Delhi.

The Una authorities were keen that if a RT-PCR test report could not be made mandatory for people coming from high infection load states, at least they should be allowed to keep a record of the people, and their vehicles. “If we have a database of people coming to the state, we can at least monitor their condition and ensure that they remain in home isolation with the help of the elected representatives of the urban local bodies and the panchayati raj representatives,” says the official.

In Kangra, which had reported 525 cases yesterday, the situation is getting serious.

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