Opp Cong accuses govt of failing to handle COVID-19 situation

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 11, 2021

The opposition Congress has expressed concern over the alleged failure of the state government to handle the COVID-19 situation in the state.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Congress spokesperson and Rangsakona legislator Zenith M Sangma said the COVID 19 pandemic is not new to Meghalaya, since the advent of the pandemic there was a demand for the construction of a designated COVID hospital in Tura.

“However, the chief minister realised that the numbers were going down at one point of time last year and therefore put a halt in the project,” he alleged.

Zenith also asked how can the chief minister draw such a conclusion when everyone was preparing for the second wave of COVID-19?

“Suddenly with a surge in COVID 19 cases the government which was sleeping for more than one year, has decided to construct COVID hospital in Tura. COVID is here to stay and the government should have anticipated that.

Due to complacency and lack of farsightedness, we are facing problem and even we are loosing precious lives. Everyday 8-9 people are being succumbed to this virus,” he said.

Stating that there should be proper planning while making any strategies to contain the spread of the virus, the Congress leader however said “Instead of being pro-active in dealing with the Covid situation, the Government is rather found to be taking panic decision.”

He said on the morning of May 5, the news spread that there would not be a lockdown instead there will be identification and declaration of containment and micro-containment zones to prevent the spread of virus.

But on the contrary, at around 1:00 pm on the same day, the Government announced that from 8:00 pm there will be a complete lockdown for 5 consecutive days.

Then all of a sudden people rushed to the market making it overcrowded and started panic buying, breaking all the protocol norms and SOPs, which the police and other enforcing agencies could not control, he said.