Pune: Maharashtra Govt Says Stamp People Coming From Other States For Home-Quarantine, PMC Does Opposite
Sumit Singh
Pune, 21st May 2021: In the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Maharashtra government has made it mandatory for people coming from other states to carry their negative reports of RT-PCR in order to keep a check, the state government also directed the local authorities to put a home-quarantine stamp on their hands.
However, in blatant violation of the rule, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is not stamping people at the Pune railway station where every day about 15,000 people arrive from other states.
“We fear that the negligence by PMC should not cost us dearly as COVID cases are declining continuously in Pune now. In other states especially in the north, COVID cases are on the rise”, said an official from the district administration.
The state government order states, “At the stoppages where passengers are alighting, all passengers shall be stamped on the hand for 14 days home quarantine. Thermal scanners shall be used and anyone with symptoms shall be moved to corona care centres or to a hospital. Local disaster management authority may decide to the Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) at the alighting point by appointing one of the authorised labs to give these services. The cost of the test, if so decided shall be borne by the passenger.”
According to officials, the PMC team at the railway station is also not verifying whether people are carrying the RT-PCR negative report or not. They are only checked through thermal scanning for body temperature and people with any symptoms, are made to undergo RAT.
Railway officials have written to Pune Municipal Commissioner to start one more point to avoid the extra rush at the time when many trains are expected to arrive at the same period. Those coming from other states are asked to go out from platform no. 6 (towards DRM office ) which leads to the gathering of people for a long time.
When contacted, Pune railway division’s public relations officer (PRO) Manoj Jhavar said, “It is the responsibility of Pune Municipal Corporation to check the RT-PCR report and implement state government’s norms. We are lending our support by providing the required facility at the railway station.”
A query in this regard has been sent to PMC Commissioner Vikram Kumar. This report will be updated after getting his response.
