E-Paper
Covid-19: Early curbs, screening help Sikkim stay clear
As of Thursday, Sikkim’s international neighbours had 1160, 8 and 3 active cases respectively, while West Bengal has reported 107 cases till date.
Siliguri: Strict screening of travellers since January and banning the entry of foreigners and residents of other states since the first week of March has helped the small Himalayan state of Sikkim, which shares its borders with China to the north, Nepal to the east, Bhutan to the west, and West Bengal to the south, remain clear of Covid-19 till date.
As of Thursday, its international neighbours had 1160, 8 and 3 active cases respectively, while West Bengal has reported 107 cases till date.
Sikkim banned the entry of foreigners and Indians from other states in the first week of March well before the nationwide lockdown began on March 25. Even before that, in January, Sikkim began to screen travellers at Rangpo and Melli, the two main entry points into the state — their details were jotted down, and their health status was checked.
Jacob Khaling, political secretary to the chief minister, said, “The state government started taking precautionary measures much before the coronavirus was taken seriously in the country. From January 28 we started sanitization programmes at Melli and Rangpo borders and started keeping records of all travellers and screened them.”
The landlocked state, Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang said, has enough rice to feed people for three months and there is no fund crunch to fight Covid-19. Tourism is Sikkim’s primary industry and the state stands to lose revenue with the lockdown. But for now, it has managed to stave off Covid-19 cases.
“For the sake of the safety of the people we did not look at economic losses and took early and hard decisions, which includes sealing the borders and banning entry of international and domestic tourists,” Tamang told HT.
Most of the essential commodities needed by Sikkim are sent from Siliguri in West Bengal. Vehicles carrying essential goods have been given special permission to ply between Sikkim and Siliguri, The government has also been getting its supplies of pulses and edible oil from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Wire fences have been put up along some parts of the border that are unmanned and wild, particularly along shallow rivers and streams from where people can cross into the state. More than 2000 policemen have been deployed to keep vigil on hill tracks, rivulets and forest paths adjoining Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills in Bengal that are used regularly by people.
Sudhakar Rao, special director general of police, Sikkim, said that all loop roads in the hills are guarded round the clock and not a single person is being allowed to cross the border.
M K Sharma, state health minister, said, “More than 500 people including students returned from other states and they are in quarantine at different locations in all four districts. Some have also returned home (after spending time in quarantine). The state government has made arrangements for isolation in government hospitals equipped with ventilators.”
In addition to Rs 50 crore allotted as part of the State Disaster Management Fund, Rs 175 crore has been sanctioned from the North East Council to tackle Covid 19 cases in the state.
