Hard, but Marwari Patti, Murgipatty residents ‘bearing’ with quarantine

Our Reporter
Dimapur, April 16 (EMN):

Three days have passed after the Dimapur district administration sealed off two major areas in Dimapur as quarantines to ‘control and prevent’ the possible spread of Covid-19. Residents of Marwari Patti and Murgipatty in the city are ‘bearing’ with the quarantine.

Retail shops at Marwari Patti and Murgipatty and the wholesale market at GS Road, some of Dimapur’s chief commercial areas, have been on a standstill.

The closure of the two areas came hours after officials confirmed that a Dimapur resident had been tested positive for the Covid-19 in Assam.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror through the phone, a resident of Marwari Patti said that situation is ‘normal’ and ‘bearable’ as essential commodities are being made available to the people there.

While understanding the hard times they are facing and the need for complete seal-off, she said, there are some issues that the administration may consider such as for medical emergencies.

Medical troubles

The resident cited an example: She faced difficulties in taking her mother for a medical check-up. She said her mother takes treatment at Dibrugarh in Assam. However, they couldn’t go there because of the lockdown.

Subsequently, she wanted to take her mother to the hospital as she had ‘mild fever’ and ‘gastric’ problems. Unfortunately, the resident said, she was not allowed. She could only get her medicines from a nearby pharmacy with a previous prescription the physician had recommended.

Other than that, she encouraged the shutdown measures, stating it was ‘necessary’ and ought to be done.

Another man who also spoke to Eastern Mirror said although the administration was doing their work, there needs to be better management. The problem lies in how they are managing the situation, he said.

Need to sanitise areas, take door-to-door screening

The resident said that the entire area of the two localities needs to be well-sanitised. The district administration must also ensure door-to-door screening and sample collection. This should be not just for relatives, friends or people who came in direct contact with the patient, but the entire populace residing in the locality.

The resident expressed opinion that there was communication gap, and expressed deep concern that the administration should convey their messages clearly and be transparent to the public in regard to information.

Likewise, another woman spoke about the trauma and difficulties they are facing. Almost everyone residing in the area fears transmission of the virus, and most of them are even scared to go out to procure essential commodities, she said.

The resident also emphasised on the urgent need for sanitising the areas which the administration had themselves quoted and classified it as ‘contaminated’ areas.

Revision of essential commodities’ price

The Dimapur district administration assisted by the Dimapur Municipal Council (DMC), and the District Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) has revised the price of all essential commodities on April 14, which is now in effect.

This was informed by the president of the DCCI Akashe Zhimomi through the phone to Eastern Mirror. He gave information that a total 20 wagons of rice was received a day ago at the Dimapur railway station. Since the wholesale market areas of Dimapur have been ‘seal off’ completely, the administration arranged alternatives to distribute and facilitate rice supply to every district, he said.

Zhimomi said the district administration, the DMC and the DCCI had started distributing the rice to the other districts’ respective chamber of commerce groups besides to a few wholesalers.