Nagpur: A Maharashtra resident traveling somewhere in Madhya Pradesh (MP) may have to be quarantined for a week. There may be agreements in some government establishment or hotel, or one may simply be rejected.
On Monday, the MP government issued instructions calling for a seven-day quarantine for travelers from Maharashtra. This includes residents of the MP himself and even people from other states. The officials also made it clear that there will always be room for relaxation on a case-by-case basis. Movement is allowed to work in facilities on either side or in other emergencies.
The MP himself placed curbs last month. Among the neighboring districts, however, only Chhindwara had strictly imposed the no-certificate-no-entry rule. Upon re-ordering by the state’s Home Office, all of the MP’s districts will have the same norm.
This means that either a resident of Maharashtra has a Covid certificate or remains in quarantine wherever possible, according to the MP bureaucrats contacted by TOI. The practical difficulties will be addressed as soon as they are encountered, officials said.
The move is expected to affect traffic between the two states. Bags in Madhya Pradesh like the Pench Tiger Reserve or the Pachmarhi Hill Station are popular tourist deviations for those in Vidarbha.
The Vidarbha region borders six districts of Madhya Pradesh – Chhindwara, Seoni, Balaghat, Betul, Khandwa, Burhanpur. Large numbers of people travel to Nagpur from cities like Jabalpur and Satna Narisnghpur for medical treatment. The move is expected to hit Madhya Pradesh tourism, resort owners say. Doctors in Nagpur say health care in cities in the neighboring state may also be affected due to the curbs.
All resort owners in Pench have received a letter from the police. It is said that they must submit a report on the tourists by 6 p.m. every day and that guests should only be admitted through the RTPCR test with a negative Covid report.
“The sudden announcement of restrictions on both sides of the border has had a dramatic impact on our business for this and the coming weeks. On average, 50% of bookings are canceled. This creates a difficult situation as overhead costs are fixed and are close to 70% of our operating costs. With 90% of tourism coming from Nagpur, you can understand how badly the business has been hit, ”said Sandeep Singh, a member of the Pench Jungle Lodges’ Association.
Dr. Anup Marar, organizer of the Vidarbha Hospitals’ Association (VHA), said the curb can affect the patient flow of MP. Many also come to have Covid treated.
Chhindwara district collector Saurav Kumar Suman told TOI that access to jobs is the responsibility of the employer. In Raymond’s cross-border unit, the employer must ensure that workers do not leave the factory. In Burhanpur, ID cards are issued for workers who cross the border.