SHILLONG: The Achik Youth’s Movement for the Betterment of the Society (AYMBS) has urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to deploy more security personnel to the areas lacking adequate manpower to avert any possible COVID-19 spread from the neighbouring state of Assam.
“Many traders, especially the locals from Assam, are intruding into Meghalaya through the entry points from some of these areas (Rajabala, Bhaitbari, Phulbari and Chibinang). The entry points are closed though there are some small pockets through which they enter into the state. The Jinjiram River has subsided and is motorable in most parts of the areas, which makes it easier for the people of Assam to enter into the state,” the AYMBS, in a letter to Sangma, said.
“There is shortage of manpower in the police station as well as in the community health centre of Phulbari and other areas as well, and with limited manpower, it is almost impossible for the authority to keep vigil on the entry points of the plains. Therefore, we would like to appeal and suggest for more security forces to be deployed to the area,” the letter added.
Stating that the people hardly adhere to the lockdown or quarantine orders, the AYMBS requested Sangma to reconsider the decision to allow the re-opening of weekly markets in Rajabala, Bhaitbari, Phulbari and Chibinang areas.
“Just recently, there was a case in Rajabala where police personnel were attacked by a mob while asking them to maintain social distance and the protocol of the authorities is not at all followed by the shopkeepers of these areas,” the AYMBS lamented.