1 lakh stranded citizens returned to Assam, another lakh on the way: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: Assam Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that 1 lakh citizens from Assam who were stranded elsewhere amid the lockdown have returned to the state and another lakh is on the way.

Informing that 2 lakh people have registered from across Assam to return amid the easing of restrictions, Sarma said that 1 lakh of those have already returned and the rest are on the way. "The numbers will dwindle and industries are opening in other states and many of these people are being discouraged as they have to head for quarantine after returning", Sarma said.

Sarma said that because of the challenge presented by the Covid-19, hostels of the educational institutions in Guwahati are being requisitioned. "We don't wish to take the hostels Cotton, Dibrugarh, and Gauhati University. Rather, we wish to resume the classes as soon as possible. But, sometimes the situation goes out of hand. Say consider 800 people were to disembark in Guwahati today. We do not have that many hotels", he said.

Opining that the numbers of incoming people will dwindle from 10-15 June onwards, Sarma said, "The numbers will reduce. If we can hold it together for 20 more days, we can save Assam from community transmission", he added.

It may be mentioned here that Assam has so far reported 597 cases of the COVID-19, 528 of which are active so far. Till now, 4 persons in the state have died due to complications.

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