Stranded Himachalis file four lakh online requests

Shri Puri | TNN | May 2, 2020, 05:24 IST

Vehicles at Shoghi near Shimla on Friday

DHARAMSHALA: After Himachal Pradesh relaxed norms allowing its people stuck in other states to come back, the online portal for making passes received four lakh applications in a month. On the last day, the count had reached 100 passes per minute, after which the government was forced to suspend the e-pass application facility temporarily late Thursday night.
So far, 75,000 people have arrived in the state, with maximum 17,000 in Kangra district. There are above three lakh people from HP who are stuck in various parts of the country.
Varun Rattan Singh, CEO of Development Logistics, the company that made the government’s outreach possible, revealed that 60,000 requests were received on Thursday. “It was 100 applications per minute. This figure was seven applications per minute a few days back. I request people to apply only in case of grave emergency or genuine need. People should be responsible enough to let all get benefit of technology,” he said.
This application was launched on March 29, 2020. Out of four lakh applications received, one lakh requests have been approved, he said. Different types of passes were made to identify people.
The state government has temporarily suspended this service following mass movement and public anger on account of violations made by these newly arrivals. People entering the state have been asked to self quarantine, but not all are adhering to the norms. Since Kangra district has recorded most arrivals, the district magistrate announced the suspension of this facility on Wednesday.
The principal secretary to the chief minister, Sanjay Kundu issued a statement, saying there are nearly 3.50 lakh people who want to make a comeback to the state and number people wanting to leave is also nearly the same.
According to data available, a maximum number of 9,395 people entered Kangra district on Thursday. In Sirmaur district, there were 167 entries only.