THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
The biggest question troubling passengers is whether they will be welcomed or whether they will be treated as suspected COVID-19 carriers and placed into institutional or home quarantine.
Every State is setting up their unique sets of rules for arriving passengers. None of the States have any problem regarding sending off the passengers. A clear indication that most of the States are not prepared to absorb this ‘additional burden’ as they are already hard pressed with the migrant labourers’ movement.
Domestic flights scheduled to resume from May 25 will operate at one-third of their capacity after which the operations would be expanded in a phased manner. Currently, there is no information regarding the recommencement of international flights. Even though several rounds of media interviews have happened with Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the message is still not clear and despite the Centre calling civil aviation a central subject, the States are taking no chances to make their own home safe. In fact, it is still not clear how a passenger without a mobile phone can download the ‘mandatory’ Aarogya Setu app.
Goa has laid down its standard operating procedure (SOP) for all domestic passengers arriving by air, rail or road to Goa. According to the SOP, every passenger will have to undergo thermal screening at the entry point. Those passengers found with COVID-19 symptoms will be mandatorily tested and quarantined. The passengers who are asymptomatic will be given two options, one of which they should select on the self-declaration form to be submitted at the entry point.
In the first option the passengers must get their test done by giving their swabs at the collection centres. The passengers will have to pay Rs 2,000 for the same and maintain self-isolation till the test results come. The second option mentioned in the guideline is to be under home quarantine for 14 days with stamping. In the case of any passenger with international travel history, as declared in the self-declaration form, the person will be mandatorily tested and quarantined till the test results come.
However, the SOP has not been very well accepted by non-ruling political parties of the State. The State opposition parties by saying that the “SOP is a recipe for community transmission”, have demanded that the State government not to give a “red carpet welcome” to the tourists and the original Goans who are stranded out of the country are being asked to pay for their quarantine facilities after their arrival in the State. The reference was being made to the recent arrivals of seafarers.
On the other hand, the most COVID-19 affected States like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal have already expressed their concerns over the resumption of flights. Maharashtra has over 47,000 corona virus cases, the highest in India and Mumbai alone has contributed about 61 per cent to Maharashtra’s cases and 60 per cent of its fatalities. The fear is genuine and the hospital beds and quarantine centres are stretched already.
While Maharashtra has stated that it is not willing to allow the domestic aviation sector to resume operations in the State, except for medical purposes or for the transfer of Indians evacuated from abroad, Kerala, Telangana, Assam, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and UT of Jammu and Kashmir have mandated 14-day quarantine for all arriving passengers. Many States have also raised the issue of aggregator services which includes taxi, auto rickshaws, hotels, which are prohibited to ply till May 31 and cannot be allowed only for air passengers.
Yes, the apprehensions are a lot but it is an endeavour to make available the flights for those residents of the States who got stuck elsewhere in the country during lockdown and are now willing to return to their home States. But will they feel welcomed in their own home State, is a question which no one can answer at this time of crisis.
