The border talks between Assam and Nagaland to defuse tension along Mokokchung-Jorhat will take place only after the Covid-19 situation in Nagaland is under control.
Official sources said the Nagaland home department has directed the Mokokchung DC, L. Jamir, to hold talks with his Jorhat counterpart, A. Barman, after the Covid situation normalises.
Soaring Covid-19 cases had seen the Nagaland government extend lockdown till June 11. On Monday, Nagaland had 4,923 active cases with 315 deaths.
Though Assam has not imposed lockdown, it has barred inter-district travel and extended curfew hours from 12 noon to 5am to break the chain of transmission. On Monday, Assam had 51,694 active cases with 3365 deaths.
Assam’s Special DGP G.P. Singh, after a stock-taking visit to the border on Friday, had revealed about the proposed “DC/SP level meeting within 3 days followed immediately by IG Border level meeting”.
Talks have become inevitable to defuse tension triggered by the alleged firing from the Nagaland side on senior Assam Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, when he had visited the border area in the Dessoi Valley Reserve Forest — claimed by both states on Thursday afternoon. Both states have also accused each other of breaking the Supreme Court-imposed status quo.
A senior official said besides the home department directive, the Mokokchung administration too is in a spot.
“The Mokokchung SP is in isolation and the DC is awaiting his Covid test report because he was in contact with him. Under the circumstances, it will not be appropriate on part of the DC to attend the border talks. Participants from both districts could be at risk given the Covid situation,” one of the official said.
Though the situation in Jorhat is getting back to normal, it is still clocking over 200 cases a day, an official said.
Official data reveals the Northeast is facing a tough time containing the spread of the virus in the second wave. This is reflected in the death and recovery rates.
Northeast’s recovery rate is below the national average of 91.60 per cent. Nagaland’s recovery rate is 74.90 per cent while that of Assam is slightly better at 81.41 per cent. Tripura has the best recovery rate in the region at 86.17 per cent.
The region’s death ratio is also worrying with Nagaland leading the way at 1.68 per cent while Mizoram has the lowest at 0.31 per cent followed by Assam at 0.81 per cent.
As part of its measures to contain the pandemic, the Assam health department on Tuesday launched the third phase of the community surveillance through which medical teams will visit every village household in the state to track, isolate and treat Covid cases to check the spread of the virus.
