Odisha seals border with West Bengal
The Odisha government sealedits border with West Bengal where a triple mutant variant ofCOVID-19 has reportedly surfaced, and intensified vigil alongthe inter-state boundary, officials said.
The state government on Friday sealed the routes tothe neighbouring state which pass through Balasore andMayurbhanj districts, a senior official said.
The state police has also intensified vigil at threemajor check posts. However, there are many porous villageroutes through which people can enter the coastal state fromWest Bengal, he said.
People who are crossing the border through the threecheck posts are asked to furnish their negative reports ofRT-PCR, done 48 hours before travelling, or their vaccinationcertificates.
After entering Odisha, they have to be quarantined for14 days.
Balasore district magistrate-cum-collector K SudarshanChakravarty inspected several border areas and supervised thearrangements.
He said that all those returning from West Bengal willbe quarantined either in institutions or paid facilities fornot having RT-PCR negative reports or complete vaccinationcertificates.
Those carrying the required documents will also haveto undergo home quarantine for 14 days, he added.
Meanwhile, the sealing of the border sparked tensionin certain areas as the sudden closure inconvenienced thelocal people, who had gone to the neighbouring state.
At least two marriage parties were stopped by thepolice on NH-60 in Balasore as they did not possess COVID-19negative reports.
Debasis Dey of Dantan in West Bengal was on his way toMotiganj in Balasore when the bridegrooms family was stoppedat the Lakhannath check post on NH-60, police said.
Abas Senapati of Belda in West Medinipur district ofWest Bengal was on his way to Paradip when his family memberswere also stopped.
The police have also intensified vigil at bus standsand railway stations, Bhubaneswar railway station directorChittaranjan Nayak said.
Exit from platform no. 6 of Bhubaneswar railwaystation has been stopped while arrangements for both entry andexit have been made through platform no. 1, Nayak said.
A total of 30 trains from West Bengal cross Odishadaily. Nine such trains come to Bhubaneswar with around 5,000-7,000 passengers, he said.
The police have also tightened enforcement in the holytown of Puri as a large number of people visit the JagannathDham.
“We are alert and the police have asked owners ofhotels and lodges to keep a tab on people coming from Bengal,”said Puris Superintendent of Police Kanwar Vishal Singh.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)