GUWAHATI: Meghalaya permits "conditional" movement of vehicles from Assam amid lockdown.

The decision was taken after government of two states decided to coordinate to rescue stranded citizens.

Private vehicles and buses were witnessed at Ratacherra, East Jaintia Hills check point.

The vehicles were given passes from Assam government.

“We started to allow these vehicles to pass through, based on the list we received,” East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner Fredrick M Dopth.

Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, on Saturday, had said that 323 ASTC (Assam State Transport Department) buses operated across the State. The buses facilitated the travel of around 5,000 registered passengers for short distance journey in 18 districts.

Minister Patowary added that on Sunday, more than 300 buses will be allotted and over 15,000 passengers will travel across the State.

Minister Patowary, along with senior officials of Transport Department visited ISBT, Betkuchi; ASTC, Paltan Bazar and Machkhowato oversee the safe transportation of the stranded people.

“On Day 1, Transport Department has put 323 buses into service for facilitating the travel of around 5,000 registered passengers for short distance journey in 18 districts namely, Biswanath, Bongaigaon, Cachar, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Hailakandi, Hojai, Jorhat, Kamrup Metro, Karimganj, North Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tinsukia, Udalguri”, the minister added.

The passengers underwent a medical examination before boarding the bus and also after they were dropped at their respective locations. The ASTC passengers were transported by following the health advisory of the Government. Hand gloves and masks were mandatory and the norms of social distancing were followed.

According to a release, the total number of registered applicants through 104 helpline number was 41,651. The lines were closed on midnight of April 23. An initial message was sent to all registered applicants that their request has been accepted. It may be mentioned that the declared red zone districts were excluded from this purview.

A thorough plan was made to categorize the passengers district-wise. For the first phase, priority was to send the passengers between two nearest districts. Accordingly, ASTC sent SMS Ticket to around 5,000 people yesterday, containing the bus details, boarding point, serial number, origin and destination, time and date of journey etc.Only those people were allowed to travel in buses who showed the confirmed SMS Ticket.

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