300 passengers flee Silchar airport to escape Covid test, invite action
Additional deputy commissioner of Cachar district Sumit Sattavan said tracing the violators would be easy as they had submitted their contact details while booking their tickets
As many as 300 passengers who arrived at Assam’s Silchar airport on Wednesday escaped mandatory testing for Covid-19 by dodging authorities. District officials said strict action will be taken against them to set an example for other air travellers to take Covid-19 containment measures seriously.
Covid-19 testing was arranged at a government hospital near Silchar airport and passengers were being taken there in buses organised by the health department. Officials said around 300 passengers left without getting tested. The district administration has decided to lodge FIRs (first information reports) against all of them under Section 180 (refusing to sign statement) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the disaster management act for violating Covid protocols.
Additional deputy commissioner of Cachar district Sumit Sattavan said tracing the violators would be easy as they had submitted their contact details while booking their tickets. “We have collected their details from the airport authority and the process of lodging FIRs against each one of them will start from Thursday. It is a violation of Covid protocol and disaster management act; they will be punished. We are acting strict to set an example so that no other air passenger tries to do the same,” Sattavan said.
He said over 700 passengers arrive daily at the Silchar airport. On Wednesday, 690 passengers were listed for the mandatory Covid test. Among those who were tested, six passengers tested positive and were sent to institutional facilities for isolation and treatment.
Earlier, the state had exempted those travelling among north-eastern states from testing and quarantine and only passengers from states other than the seven from the region were tested. On Wednesday, state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said tests and seven-day home isolation will be mandatory for all incoming passengers. A detailed order is awaited.
“All passengers arriving by flights and trains from outside the state will have to undergo compulsory home quarantine for seven days, even if the result of the Covid test on arrival is negative,” said Sarma. However, government officials, those travelling for medical reasons, and people visiting the state in connection with bereavement will be exempted from mandatory quarantine, he added.
Assam’s Covid-19 tally rose to 229,138 on Wednesday as 1,665 more people tested positive for the virus while five new fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,150, the National Health Mission bulletin said. Two fatalities were reported from Dibrugarh and one each in Barpeta, Cachar and Kamrup metropolitan districts. Seven residents of the Barak Valley have succumbed to Covid in the last five days.