Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said her government would now requisition wedding halls and community centres across Bengal for setting up quarantine centres.

The chief minister, while chairing an all-party meeting at the state secretariat, said more quarantine centres across the state was the way forward.

The focus comes at a time tens of thousands of migrant workers have returned from outside the state over the past few days.

The Bengal government has started taking a written undertaking from those who are coming in from abroad and other states in the country that they would abide by the norms and regulations of home quarantine.

Sources said the decision was taken after reports of several violation of home quarantine norms started to pour in from various corners of the state. Violations can invite imprisonment for six months along with a fine.

“As of now, 4,100 people, many of whom have come from other states, have been kept in quarantine centres. We will requisition marriage halls and community halls to set up temporary quarantine centres,” Mamata said at the meeting.

The meeting at the state secretariat marked a welcome departure as it was held in an atmosphere of cordiality and cooperation. Bitter political rivals set aside differences, at least for the time being, and closed ranks in the war against the pandemic.

“This is considering more people could be sent for quarantine as migrant workers have been coming back to the state,” the chief minister said at the meeting, attended by representatives of all major political forces in the state. None was in dissonance with the common objective of minimising the damage.

Mamata said her government has also decided to requisition hotels in the districts to ensure proper accommodation for physicians, healthcare personnel and other first responders who could be sent to remote places to deal with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cases.

“The state government is going to arrange for accommodation, food and transport facilities for doctors (and) health workers… who would have to work away from their homes, going forward. For this, we would requisition some hotels in some strategically important places,” Mamata said.

Sources at Nabanna said the dual measures announced by the chief minister showed that the government was now prepping for the next difficulty level, which could involve having to deal with a large number of coronavirus-infected cases.

According to an official, a main cause of concern was the large number of migrant workers who have returned from states such as Maharashtra and Kerala.

“They came back in overcrowded trains. It is still not clear whether any of them is already infected. Symptoms could emerge after five days. So we have to keep arrangements ready for keeping thousands more in quarantine centres,” he said.

At the meeting, Mamata expressed concern over screening facilities at the airport and railway stations, which are under the Centre.

“For two months, I have been requesting the railway and airport authorities to screen passengers properly, but it was simply not being done. People from Bengal, who went to work outside, have been coming back at a bad time, particularly when the country is facing the threat of stage III,” said the chief minister.

The chief minister made it clear that her government was willing to use force — under the law — against those who remain unwilling to adhere to the safety guidelines in the wake of the pandemic.

“But I request everyone to cooperate with the state government, as we are fighting this fight for the benefit of everyone in the society,” said Mamata.

The BJP, the Left, the Congress and all other parties present at the meeting threw their weight behind the Trinamul Congress chief and her efforts in the fight and, in a rare show of unity, unanimously lauded her initiative and promised support.

“There is no criticism we came here to offer, simply our support and — if necessary — some suggestions for fine-tuning the approach,” said the leader of the Left legislature party, Sujan Chakraborty.

The BJP and the Congress urged the chief minister to increase testing facilities across Bengal. Mamata cited delay in supply of testing kits and clearances from the Centre as the main roadblock.

“We have just 40 testing kits here. The Centre is yet to meet our demand for more…. In our videoconference of chief ministers with the Prime Minister, I had raised this issue,” Mamata told BJP state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar, one of her fiercest critics.

She appealed to Majumdar: “Please raise these issues with the Centre.”

The BJP leader smiled and assured her of the state unit’s cooperation.

Mamata on Monday also proposed — and the others agreed — to send an all-party resolution to the Centre, urging it to set up a special fund to help states battling the virus.