UT shortlists 5 pvt hotels for NRIs’ stay

CHANDIGARH:The UT administration on Monday shortlisted five private hotels for quarantining the NRIs returning to Chandigarh from abroad.

Officials have maintained that around 5,000 NRIs are expected to return to Chandigarh. But the number may vary depending on foreign approvals and Indian government’s capacity to fly them back.“A confirmatory Covid-19 test and a 14-day quarantine in the city’s hotels will be mandatory for the returnees,” said a senior UT official, requesting anonymity.

“Hotel Lemon Tree, Industrial Area Phase 1; Hotel Fern Residency, Industrial Area Phase 2; The Piccadilly, Sector 22; Homtel Hotel, Industrial Area, Phase 2; and Hotel Regent, Sector 35; have been shortlisted. Their final confirmation is awaited,” he said.

Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) hotels - Mountview in Sector 10, and Shivalikview in Sector 17 - have already been declared as quarantine facilities.

Principal secretary, health, Arun Kumar Gupta said necessary arrangements have been done to enlist a panel of hotels for accommodating the returnees.

In the daily review meeting on Monday, UT administrator VP Singh Badnore directed the UT officials that to ensure there is a range of payment option.

Even though two foreign-returned persons have already landed in Delhi, they haven’t been brought back to the city. They have been quarantined in a Delhi hotel. “Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) buses will be sent to Delhi for bringing back the foreign-returned persons to the city in batches. Till then, they will be quarantined there,” said the official.

MOHALI ADMN ALSO IDENTIFIES HOTELS

Meanwhile, the Mohali administration has also identified different categories of hotels from which the NRIs returning to the district can choose to be quarantined in. Pertinently, two flights with native passengers returning from foreign shores are expected to land at the Chandigarh International Airport in a couple of days. Also, the residents coming to the district from other states, the deputy commissioner said, will be de-boarded from their buses at a common central location, which, as of now, has been identified as Palm Banquets in Zirakpur. Thereafter, they will be home quarantined.