Central team preparing 'weak lockdown' report ..... IMCT felt that both Darjeeling & Kalimpong should be kept under more surveillance

Weekly market of Kalimpong at Mela ground on 29 April 2020: 

SANKHA GHOSH, SNS, SILIGURI, 29 APRIL 2020: The absence of strong measures to enforce the lockdown in major parts of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri has not gone down well with an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) that has camped here since 20 April. The five-member IMCT, which is assessing the Covid 19-related situation, has visited health facilities, containment zones, markets. Covid treatment facilities, markets, quarantine centres, tea gardens, and shelter homes in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri districts, and will submit its reports to the union home ministry in a few days.

According to well-placed sources, the team members felt that both Darjeeling and Kalimpong should be kept under more surveillance, while the team was displeased with the role of the police, especially given the unabated movement of two-wheelers, e-rickshaws, and city autos, and lack of restrictions on the movement of people in the containment zone. The team, however, expressed satisfaction with the situation in tea plantations. It is also of the opinion that more testing laboratories should come up and more tests done.

"The team has observed weak enforcement of the lockdown in most of parts of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri. Hardly any stringent step has been taken by the police against triple riding on two wheelers and rampant movement of e-rickshaws and city autos. There is also no restriction on the movement of the people in the containment zone (Ward 47). This is what the team members are mentioning in their reports." sources said.

At the Viral Research & Diagnostic Laboratory(VRDL) at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), the team members believed that more testing laboratories should be setup and more tests carried out. It also felt that the infrastructure of the NBMCH should be upgraded.

Meanwhile, Siliguri police commissioner Tripurari Atharv today hit the streets and visited markets.

Bhaichung for united fight:

Former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia today said the Centre and the state government should work together to fight Covid-19. Mr Bhutia distributed rice and pulses, along with Siliguri Mayor Asok Bhattacharya, in Ward-6 here today.

"In this situation, everybody has to work together to prevent the disease and work united. That is how we can fight coronavirus. Everybody should work together since neither the Centre nor the state can do it alone." he said. Expressing concern at the plight of the poor people and migrant workers, Mr Bhutia said the government should take the issue seriously.

"The lockdown has been enforced to protect the people and contain the disease, but after almost 40 days, the government should see to it that the common people, especially those belonging to the economically weaker sections, can maintain their

livelihood. Steps can be taken slowly to bring those people and migrant workers under jobs by following the social distancing norm," Mr Bhutia said.

Talking about the situation in his home state of Sikkim, Mr Bhutia said the government there had taken the right decisions at the right time. He said people of the state also maintain good hygiene and cleanliness.

Mr Bhutia had fought against Mr Bhattacharya in the Assembly elections on a Trinamul Congress ticket from the Siliguri Assembly Constituency in 2016. In April 2018, after resigning from the Trinamul, Mr Bhutia formed the Hamro Party. Both Mr Bhutia and Mr Bhattacharya, however, said they had a long personal relationship.

(Courtesy, and source - The Statesman- https://epaper.thestatesman.com/2653162/Siliguri-The-Statesman/30-TH-APRIL-2020#page/2/2 )