india

Updated: Apr 26, 2020 14:19 IST

Amid the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the Assam government has begun transporting thousands of people from one part of the state to another in a three-day exercise.

The one-time conditional travel allowing people stranded across the state due to the lockdown to reach their homes or workplaces began on Saturday and will continue till Monday.

“Nearly 41,000 people had registered themselves at our helpline numbers. Of them, 5,000 were transported to various parts of the state in 300 buses of the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) on Saturday,” industries and transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said.

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On Sunday, over 11,000 passengers will be transported by nearly 700 ASTC buses free of cost to various destinations. The same exercise will continue on Monday while maintaining safety and social distancing norms allowing 15-20 persons to travel in one bus.

ASTC carried out a similar exercise last month between March 24 and 28 when it helped 28,000 people who had reached Assam by trains, buses and flights reach their homes across the state.

Patowary informed that since the beginning of the lockdown on March 25, 357 trains carrying food items and essential goods have reached Assam. The transport department engaged 33,000 labourers and over 1,500 trucks to take goods to 28 locations in the state.

“The food supply chain in the state is functioning very well and at present there is no shortage of food items anywhere in the state,” he said.

The government also allowed those having their own vehicles to travel from one destination to another and employers to transport their workers to the workplaces with prior permission from district authorities.

“We got over 51,000 requests from people who wanted to travel using their own vehicles. If the lockdown gets extended beyond May 3, we may allow another travel window later,” state health and finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

On Saturday, 12,000 people moved within the state using own vehicles.