GTA chief Anit Thapa has said he will work from “ground zero” Kalimpong from Thursday as “a huge amount of fear, stress, and uncertainty” prevails there following the death of a local Covid-19 patient.
The 44-year-old Kalimpong woman had died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri on Monday morning.
“I am aware that there is a huge amount of fear, stress, and uncertainty in Kalimpong after the death. I have decided to shift my base to Kalimpong starting tomorrow. I will be working from ground zero up to the time it demands,” Thapa said in a written statement. He is the chairman of the board of administrators formed by the Bengal government to run the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.
Thapa was currently stationed in Kurseong.
Former Darjeeling MLA Amar Singh Rai said he had donated his pension of six months to acquire 50 pieces of protective personal equipment. “I have placed an order for the PPEs which will come from Mumbai and are certified by the medical fraternity,” Rai said. He added that his effort was to help the government in times of crisis.
There were reports that proper PPEs were not supplied to frontline medical workers at the NBMCH. “There is a worldwide shortage of PPEs and the government is doing all it can,” said Rai.
Kalimpong district police chief Hari Krishna Pai said vehicles laden with essential goods would be sanitised at Motor Stand in the town from 9am to 11am before their entry to allay unwanted fears.