Shillong, May 13: A total of 3,970 residents of Meghalaya, including students, workers and others stranded across India due to the nation-wide lockdown have arrived in the State till Wednesday.

The process of bringing stranded residents is on, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Wednesday while informing that the state government is expecting the return of over 8000 people from different parts of the country.

On Wednesday, 189 stranded people who returned from states outside the North East include 116 returnees from West Bengal, Rajasthan (33) Madhya Pradesh (13), Bihar (8), Kerala (7), Uttar Pradesh (7), Karnataka (4) and five each from Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu – have arrived in Meghalaya by arranging transportation on their own.

“There are about 1000 people from the State who board a train in Chennai on Wednesday evening at 9 pm and the train would reach Guwahati on May 15,” Tynsong told journalists in his daily briefing.

He said that the second batch consisting of 225 students will leave Gujarat railway station on May 15 and reach Guwahati on May 17. A third batch of returnees numbering around 1500 will board a train from Bangalore on May 16 and will reach Guwahati on May 18.

“Once these people start arriving, they would be screened at the four entry points across the State bordering Assam and would be screened before letting them in. All the returnees will undergo home quarantine along with their family members for 14 days on arrival as safety measures,” he said

However, in some of the localities, local heads are sending these people to quarantine Centres. These people would have to follow another 14 days of quarantine and report to the authorities periodically, Tynsong said.

The Meghalaya government has decided to categorise all stranded citizens who returned to the state from states outside the Northeast, as those who returned from ‘Red Zone’ areas.

“By treating them that they came from Red Zone areas, it would ensure that we all take the responsibility of adhering to the laid down protocols strictly, as well as comply with the guidelines related to the quarantine period,” Tynsong said.