The Manipur cabinet on Wednesday decided to extend the curfew and complete lockdown in sensitive areas in the State by another 14 days as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
The 14-day extension will be effective from 2 p.m. on July 23. M. Ramani, Assembly Secretary, has issued a notification stating that officials at all ranks and elected members from Thoubal district shall not be permitted to enter the Legislative office and other facilities till further notice.
The populous Thouba district wore a deserted look following the imposition of indefinite curfew and complete lockdown in place since Tuesday. Villagers erected fences on roads leading to the district, including the NH-102. Police said it is now impossible for anyone to leave the district or enter it. Wooden barricades were raised on all flyovers.
A local elected leader, Aniz Khan, of Lilong said, “What the government has done is for the welfare and protection of the people”. All shops, hotels and other commercial centres were shut down. However pharmacies were open as usual.
Officials said preventive measures have been stepped up in neighbouring districts, especially in Imphal west, Chandel and Kakching.
However, reports and video footages from Moreh, Manipur’s border town, show that COVID-19 preventive rules are being breached heavily. While commercial and private vehicles continued plying normally in the Moreh town, shops and hotels functioned as usual. However, the scale of business was lowered as the international border was sealed.
Some social activists said though the legalised border trade is closed for the time being, people often sneak into Moreh from Myanmar with banned items. An activist said the State police and personnel of Assam Rifles have been confiscating various illegal items at the check posts at Khudengthabi, 12 km away from the international border, and that such seizures are increasing each day.
In and around the Imphal city, traders had jacked up prices of all commodities. Activists conducting surprise checks found that shopkeepers were not issuing cash memos. Some non-local shop keepers told the activists that they issue cash memos. However some shop keepers said that due to the heavy presence of the customers it may be possible some of them were not given cash memos. Unconvinced by this statement local volunteers said that they shall continue to make surprise checks to ensure that the customers are not cheated
Meanwhile, as many as 90 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Manipur in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases has reached 2,015, of which 631 are active cases and 1,384 persons have recovered. Dr. Sashikanta, additional health director, said the recovery percentage is 68.68%.
