Shimla: Fearing the risk of Coronavirus 're-surfacing', Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday invoked a series of restrictions and health surveillance protocols for all those returning home on e-passes from other towns in India.
There will be no entry to the state after 7 pm of anyone seeking to come home or those having been issued e-passes. All those returning to homes have to report at entry points between 7 am to 7 pm so as to facilitate their proper check-up and registrations for home quarantine.
The measure had become necessary to deal with huge crowd of people thronging state's borders, and creating havoc, day and night.
State government has appointed Principal Secretary (Revenue) Onkar Sharma, who also heads the Disaster Management broad, as nodal officer for facilitating return of all those people stranded in other states, and those wanting to go home from Himachal.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday had lifted restrictions on inter-state movement of the students, migrant workers, those doing jobs and also Himachalis living in other states.
But even before this, a record 75,332 persons have already entered the state during past three days as a total of 3.50 lakh have already applied for the passes. A heavy rush of people thronging the state's entry points has thrown all existing mechanism of their return, out of the gear.
Insiders say not alone students or those doing jobs are seeking e-passes to come back home but also those who had deserted their villages decades back. They are finding Himachal Pradesh safe as compared to places like Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad, which are Corona hotspots. Even, those having bought flats and houses as their summer resorts are also turning to the hills to escape Corona threat.
But the state government, in order to deal with issue of monitoring, those having returned, empowered panchayat pradhans, ward members and elected members of civic bodies, to daily monitor activities of persons on home quarantine.
Those jumping will be booked under Disaster Management Act (DMA) and sent to institutional quarantine. The PRI and urban civic bodies members will be accountable for reporting on those on home quarantine and could lose their posts on concealing vital facts or non-reporting.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur expressed confidence that Himachal Pradesh will be Coronavirus-free by May 5. The number of positive cases has turned to single digit of eight, of total 40.