IMPHAL, May 5 - With the announcement of new guidelines by the Manipur Government after the State was categorised as a Green Zone, many people of the State, particularly in the capital city, came out in large numbers to buy essential items today.
Reports of traffic jams along the road at Paona Bazar and Thangal Bazar � two commercial hubs here � poured in during the day. However, the three women�s markets and other shops at Ngari Gali and Nagamapal areas remained closed as the Government is yet to give its permission for their reopening.
An official order, issued by Manipur Chief Secretary Dr J Suresh Babu on May 3, stipulated that people should maintain social distancing and wear face masks while coming out of their homes. The order said that other markets, except the three women�s markets and others at Nagamapal and Ngari Gali in Imphal, are permitted to operate from 6 am to 4 pm. But public movement between 6 pm to 6 am is not permitted as per the order.
Meanwhile, the State Government is taking steps to bring back more stranded residents from outside, after 92 persons had returned from Guwahati and Mizoram on May 2. On May 4, the State Home Department notified a standard operating procedure (SoP) in this regard.
The SoP requires the stranded persons arriving in private or hired vehicles, to fill up a prescribed form available on the official website, www.tengbang.in, it said.
A Home Department cell dedicated to this purpose, will issue a pass and also communicate it to the originating and transiting States to facilitate the movement of the stranded people.
Meanwhile, 18 additional nodal officers have been appointed to assist the State�s senior officers to coordinate with officials of more than 30 States and Union Territories.
On March 29, the website, www.tengbang.in, was launched to reach out to citizens stranded outside the State after the nationwide lockdown. Prior to this, the Manipur Government had appointed PK Singh, Resident Commissioner at the Manipur Bhawan in New Delhi, as the nodal officer to help and guide the stranded citizens of the State.
Many citizens from Manipur, mostly students, are stranded in various States of India after the Centre clamped the nationwide lockdown on March 25.
