Staggered evacuation plan in place: Arunachal CM Pema Khandu

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Thursday said that his government will not demand for any dedicated special trains to bring back State's people stranded in different parts of the country and instead a "staggered" evacuation plan will be in place to bring them in batches.

The decision was taken to avoid the rush in the screening and quarantine facilities the State presently has, Khandu told reporters here.

The Chief Minister said that the State government has decided to opt for staggered evacuation also taking into account the safety of those stranded and those who are presently in the state.

He, however, clarified that this in no way meant that the government is not ready to bring its people back.

"We will keep bringing our people back depending upon the quarantine facilities we have. I have already spoken to the Assam government to help us in this regard to which they have obliged," Khandu said while thanking the neighboring State for its help and contribution.

The Chief Minister informed that requests have made to the Assam Home Commissioner and Railways to add additional bogies on the special trains hired by the State which would be specifically for the Arunachalees.

"The Deputy Resident Commissioners of Guwahati and Dibrugarh have been given enough manpower and expertize to help our people with their further travel once they reach Assam," Khandu said.

"Those who desire to return to the state will be soon informed about the train services," he said while appealing the people to avoid using bus services to come back as there were several risks involved.

As per the official count, around 2400 stranded people have so far returned to the State.

The Chief Minister further said that Covid-19 testing is being aggressively taken up in the State.

"We have recently installed a TrueNat machine at Naharlagun with the capacity of testing 20 samples a day. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) lab installed in Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) is also equipped with new technology that would enhance the testing speed to 200 samples per day," Khandu added.

The State has so far collected 2,483 samples out of which 1,904 have tested negative and the results of 579 samples are awaited. There are no positive Covid-19 cases in Arunachal at present.

The Chief Minister said he has also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support in procuring more diagnostic machines such as TrueNat for Arunachal for carrying out faster and effective ways of Covid-19 testing.

In terms of improving the healthcare facilities and manpower in hospitals, especially in the testing labs, the Chief Minister said directions have already given to the Health department to sort out the modalities and recruit more staffs.

"If required, we will also hire trained experts from other States to operate the testing machines," he said.

Khandu said that Arunachal is among the few States in the country to make institutional quarantine mandatory for the returnees and if the swab samples of those on institutional quarantine are found to negative, they are being asked to stay on home quarantine for another 14 days.

Khandu also thanked PM Modi for the Rs 20 lakh crore Covid relief package and said that it would go a long way in helping the small entrepreneurs, micro small and medium enterprises of the state, among many others.

The Chief Minister lauded the frontline workers including NGOs, community based organizations, and civil societies of the state for their support so far and appealed all to continue the same as a part of "Team Arunachal".

Also read: IBSD assisting Meghalaya to set up COVID-testing facility in Tura

Also watch: Preparations at Guwahati Railway Station to receive passengers coming from New Delhi