Meghalaya: Infuriated residents express alarm at lack of checking in Garo Hills
TURA | MARCH 21, 2020:
Amid the rapid spread of coronavirus cases around the globe, the residents of Garo Hills have expressed alarm over the lack of any sort of checking being organized through the many entry points into the region.
"There are checks made for all persons that enter Khasi Hills through Byrnihat to ensure that people who show signs of illness are looked at prior to entry but with Garo Hills, it's a free for all. Are we lesser citizens of the state that the pandemic spread is not being looked at on a war footing as it is elsewhere," asked Wilness Marak, a resident of Resubelpara.
Marak blamed the ruling dispensation for overlooking the state of preparedness in Garo Hills stating that the situation could implode any moment and it was the negligence of the government that would be blamed.
Similar stories have emerged everywhere wherein when an entry into Meghalaya was tried from Assam, no check gates or points to quarantine were seen anywhere along the AMPT road through Tikrikilla – Phulbari.
Last week a resident of Tura had raised the alarm that despite the severity of the pandemic, there were relatively no checks along the NH – 51 as well.
"I had just come through the Guwahati airport where rigorous checks were done and cases of even slight symptoms were asked to be quarantined. Imagine our shock when we got to Garo Hills. Is the government waiting for something shoddy to happen before corrective measures are taken," asked the Tura resident.
