KOHIMA, MAY 2 (MExN): The Association of Kohima Municipal Wards Panchayat (AKMWP) on Friday presented a number of observations on the evolving scenarios with regard to the nationwide lockdown in the state.
It further appealed the citizens and the state government for collective efforts in finding the ‘best and safest path’ out of the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
A press release to this effect was issued by the Association’s President Neibulie Keiwhuo, General Secretary Thejao Sekhose and Legal Advisor & Joint Secretary Hukato Chishi. The AKMWP is the apex body of the entire Wards, Panchayats, sectors, colonies within the territorial limits of the municipality of Kohima.
Calls for cooperation
The AKMWP appealed to all citizens of the state to fulfill their fundamental duties and extend all possible assistance to the Government in the greater interest of collective safety.
Stating that the fight against the pandemic recognizes the need for a unified team, starting from the individual to the state government as well as governments at the national and international levels, it urged all individual citizens, NGOs, unions, etc under the territorial limits of Kohima Municipality to acknowledge and obey the authority and extends all possible cooperation.
“At any extraordinary emergent times, the Government of the day is the legitimate, empowered institution with resources and know-how and can be held accountable,” it said.
While appealing citizens to “re-assess our priorities, review grievance redressal, exercise patience and pace oneself,” it also note that it is entirely another matter for the Government of the day to “live upto it and clear any mistrust and win back the confidence of the public.”
It meanwhile, acknowledged the Kohima Village Council for agreeing to permit burial of COVID-19 dead bodies, within its ancestral lands, and called upon other villages and communities to “be open to scientific reasoning and cooperate with our Government.”
On the other hand, it condemned the alleged reports of a person who was stopped from coming home by some neighbours even after quarantine period was observed and duly certified as free from the disease by the empowered authority.
Appeal to State Government
The AKMWP also expressed apprehension to the State Government and its various agencies on the dangers of a sudden and complete lifting of lockdown which may “cause a sudden burst of activities and may undo” the lockdown achievements so far.
It also called for urgent ‘suitable countermeasures’ with regard to “untraced attendees of religious conventions (hotspots of COVID-19)” who it claimed “are believed to be cooling their heels in neighbouring states and eager to crossover with the first opportunity.”
On the plight of the economically disadvantaged, daily labourers, wage earners, small businesses, stranded students, etc, the Association suggested that “a fresh relook into alleviating their miseries needs top priority.”
Further, the AKMWP recommended that the lockdown should remain, albeit with suitable changes wherever found wanting. “
It also held asymptomatic transmission as a major concern and recommended that the relaxation of interstate travel, resumption of commercial flights, trains and buses, be totally banned for the time being.
Stating that one of the major modes of infection is determined to be directly or indirectly associated to asymptomatic human carriers, the AKMWP argued that enforced quarantine alone would not be effective in keeping the virus out of the state.
Stating that the current objective assessment of the state’s resources to combat COVID-19 is ‘not encouraging,’ it also pointed out the World Health Organisation’s admission that “the coronavirus mutates rapidly, into varying levels of virility and may have already mutated or will mutate into other strains eventually.”
As such, it argued that an assessment of the state’s capabilities would indicate inadequate number of hospitals, equipments, availability of quality PPE sets, inadequate number of ventilators as well as the status two stage 3 laboratories, point to the need of maintaining a COVID-19 negative status within the state.
“We are painfully aware and suffer for our near and dear ones stranded outside, but surely, all can stand to reason and the Government is capable and willing to act promptly to alleviate their problems, to the extent possible,” it said, as it urged the government to “choose to err on the side of caution.”
