MANGALDAI, March 28 - On the fourth day of the lockdown today, the NH-15 passing through the district looked almost deserted with only a few private vehicles plying and that too under the strict vigilance of the security personnel. People have given a full response to the lockdown call of the Prime Minister, whereas in some parts of Mangaldai (like at Milanpur under ward no. 10), temporary bamboo barricades have been erected to check outsiders entering the locality.
The district administration keeping in mind the possible price hike and artificial hoarding of essential commodities, reportedly held a meeting with the members of the Mangaldai Chambers of Commerce in the presence of the Minister of State Bhabesh Kalita at the Deputy Commissioner�s office here on Friday. The meeting has fixed the daily timing (from 10 am to 4 pm) for opening of the grocery shops in the district and declared altogether 16 designated public places under Mangaldai Municipal Board for selling of vegetables and fishes. Talking to this correspondent, Ananda Kishore Kanu, Deputy Director (i/c) FCS & CA, Darrang said that from Friday, the officials of the department have moved to the field to monitor the overall scenario of the supply chain of essential commodities and allegations of unjustified price rise, so that action could taken on proven cases. �However, it has become difficult to fix the price levels right now as the prices are not stable at the main sources in Guwahati�, Kanu added.
The first meeting of the district level task force committee was also held on the day to discuss various relevant issues related to prevention of corona outbreak in the district. In the meantime, even though district is yet to record any suspected case of corona infection, the number of home quarantined persons in the district has reached an official figure of 2696 with the entry of another 448 persons on Friday. Even though the State borders have already been sealed, the figure of home quarantined people with recent travel history has been alarmingly increasing over the last couple of days.
