Assam: Cotton & Gauhati University Hostels Requisitioned for Quarantine Facilities

Guwahati:

Looking to ramp up the number of quarantine facilities in Guwahati amid the return of citizens who were stranded elsewhere, authorities in Kamrup (M) district of Assam have decided to requisition the hostels several institutions, including the renowned Cotton and Gauhati University from today.

The hostel of Cotton University has been ordered to be turned into a quarantine centre and the authorities have asked the students to vacate the hostel premises within 24 hours, giving rise to panic. As per an order issued by the Kamrup (M) Deputy Commissoner Biswajit Pegu, this has been done "for accommodating interstate passengers coming from outside Assam." The management of the institutions have been asked to make available all the vacant rooms of the building premises by Monday evening.

Alongwith the Cotton University hostels, the Pragjyotish Senior Secondary and St. Francis D'Assisi High Schools shall also be turned into quarantine facilities.

At the same time, the Registrar of the Gauhati University has informed that all boys' hostels in the University barring the Venkata Rao Research Scholars' Boys Hostel and the Babu Jagjivan Ram Hostel shall be used as quarantine centres from May 25 onwards. Students have been urged to collect their belongings at the hostels on or before May 27.

Boarders who cannot do so immediately, have been asked to inform their wardens, who will be responsible for "keep the belongings in safe custody in the respective in the respective hostels arranging necessary logistics."

According to reports, the Government is eyeing to establish around 70-80 quarantine centres amid the pressures of having to accommodate thousands upon thousands of Assam citizens who are returning after easing of lockdown restrictions. The health machinery is likely to be further strained by the resumption of domestic flights which resumed today.

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