Shillong, Sept 3: With the Covid positivity rate coming down along with the drop in new cases in the past 2-3 weeks, Meghalaya government is trying to open-up the state in a phase-wise manner in order to bring back normalcy.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday informed that the Government has opened many activities and want more activities to be opened up and at the same time want normalcy to return. “We are trying to streamline small areas where confusion were there in regards to protocols issued by health department or the Deputy Commissioner,” said Sangma.

On the concerns raised by Sohra village head to control the entry of tourists, he said the government has always been clear that be it tourism or schools, the local authority will have a lot of power to decide with what they want to do.

“If they don’t want tourists to come they can close their tourism sector, no problem. Schools also, if they don’t want to open up, no one is going to force them,” the CM said.

He added that they are just trying to open up in a phase wise manner and give the flexibility to those who want to open up. At the same time, government has given the flexibility to choose not to open up to those who are not comfortable with things opening up.

It maybe mentioned that the office of the Syiem (traditional head) has made a proposal to the state government for setting up of an entry point at Mawkdok for tourists from outside and within the state. The entry point will be to check vaccination status of tourists before entering tourist destinations in Sohra.

Meghalaya government opened up its tourism sector on September 1, allowing tourists from outside and inside the State to visit tourist spots but on the condition that only vaccinated tourists would be allowed or those that provide RTPCR negative report.