GUWAHATI: As schools, colleges, hostels, clubs and hotels across Assam are being requisitioned by the state government to convert these into quarantine centres, the Cotton University Hostels have also been taken for the same purpose.
However, the students who were living in these hostels but are currently back in their respective homes ever since the lockdown had left their valuables and baggage locked in the hostels.
Rahul Bordoloi, General Secretary of Cotton University Students’ Union, speaking to G Plus said, "I was in Lakhimpur. I got the notice around 2:30 pm today and I am rushing back to Guwahati. We were never asked to carry our belongings with us when we left. And now this sudden announcement."
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Reportedly, the government had already requisitioned the hostels and informed the boarders later.
"We have six working hostels. I did not get any official notification as of yet. So I cannot confirm how many are taken. I have asked the authorities to give the students some time to collect the belongings or permit me to collect for them all and store them in some other safe place," added Rahul.
Such a sudden notice to the boarders who are currently spread all across the state has led them to panic. Most had even left their expensive equipment like laptops behind as they were not even prepared for the prolonged lockdown when they left.
When contacted by G Plus, Bordoloi was travelling to Guwahati from Lakhimpur. "I travelled half the way on a truck and now I am waiting for any other possible vehicle." Such is the plight of the boarders given the sudden notification.
The government is preparing for more quarantine facilities to accommodate the thousands of returnees to the state. Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier mentioned that around 15 lakh people would return to Assam. Reportedly, Guwahati alone is to have around 80 quarantine centres apart from the hotels that are already being occupied.
