New Delhi: With the government allowing relaxations of inter-state travel regulations post lockdown 3.0, people from the northeast stranded in several cities and states outside of the region have begun returning home in batches after an anxious wait. However, with their arrival, mostly by special buses and trains from cities with high occurrence rate of COVID-19, the region is recording a sudden spurt in the daily count of positive cases.Till the end of the third phase of lockdown, the north-eastern states stood out for being a rare patch of ‘green zone’ in the central government’s district-wise division. States like Nagaland and Sikkim hadn’t registered a single case of coronavirus till then. However, the post May 17 scenario is an altered reality, underlining the Centre’s lack of clear thinking during the preparation of the national lockdown. While it didn’t allow those stranded from states with no or negligible number of COVID-19 cases to return home from places where there were no large number of recorded cases, it had to finally do so now at a time when major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Delhi. are registering a surge in their daily numbers. The lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi just four hours before it was to begin and without any consultation with the states. Hundreds of people from the northeast, in various parts of the country for better medical treatment, work, higher studies, etc. suddenly found themselves stranded with no way of returning home. States like Assam had transferred a sum of Rs 2,000 each to the bank accounts of at least 86,000 people stranded outside the state due to the sudden lockdown. Also read: With One Lockdown After Another, J&K’s Economy is Shuttered and ShatteredWith the relaxation of rules post lockdown 3.0, most looked at any available option to return home. While some have begun arriving in Assam in hired buses or private vehicles after May 2, when the state’s border was opened, some others have been travelling on the Shramik Special trains.In total, till May 24, as many as 22 such trains have reached various parts of the northeast, reportedly bringing close to 30,000 people so far. According to a news report in The Sentinel, “More than 20 such Shramik Special trains will be arriving in the coming days in these states,” to bring home those stranded in different parts of the country. However, this movement of people into the region has also steered a sudden spurt in cases. Among the northeastern states, Assam, the largest in terms of population, has seen a continuous upward curve in the fourth phase of lockdown. As per official figures, from 157 positive cases recorded on May 19, it had climbed to 704 by May 27 morning. Dhemaji, which had been a COVID-free district in the state, too registered four positive cases on May 25. All four had returned home by a special train from Chennai and disembarked at Dibrugarh on May 19. As many as 785 people have reportedly returned to the district this past week and were being kept at the local quarantine centres. According to the state’s latest standard operating procedure (SOP), each person entering the state either by bus, train or by flight, is to be separated on the basis of districts on disembarking, to be put in institutional quarantine for seven days locally. They are to be allowed to continue the next week of quarantine at home if their swab test comes negative.In defence of his government’s decision to allow people to enter the state from red zone districts, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was candid while speaking to reporters in Guwahati, “The government of India has told all states to bring back their citizens who are stranded in other states. This will bring danger for the home states, but at the same time we cannot stop our own people from coming. We cannot let them die in other states. We (will) have to take the risk…we have no option.” Also read: At the Manipur Quarantine Centre I’m in, We Have to Arrange for Our Own Food, BeddingAfter Assam, Tripura has registered the second highest number of cases. Though since the last ten days, the number of cases has risen to touch 232 – mainly due to people returning to the state turning positive, a huge spurt in its cases (160) was due to a single source – three paramilitary camps in the state’s Dhalai district. In the third phase, Tripura has emerged as the NE state with the highest number of cases because of it.The latest positive cases, though, are of people who have returned from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, by special trains.Yet another northeastern state that has seen a sudden rise in cases in the fourth phase is Manipur. Manipur had registered the first COVID-19 case on March 24 in the region. That patient and also another with travel history, were released after recovery and no new cases were recorded throughout lockdown 3.0. However, by May 27 morning, the tally of positive cases stood at 41, of which 37 are active. A report in The Hindu, quoting official sources, said the increase in the number of infected persons could be attributed to the return of the stranded people, mainly through special trains from Gujarat, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. According to the state’s COVID-19 common control room sources, the total number of people who had returned to Manipur till this past May 25 by bus stood at 5,785 and by train, at 4,237.Arunachal Pradesh, which had registered just one case of COVID-19 till the third phase, has noted another case in the fourth phase, in a student returning to the state from Delhi.Meghalaya too has noted the same trend of a sudden spurt in cases due to the government’s decision to allow people stranded in Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Haryana, etc. to return only after the national lockdown was partially lifted. Till news came in last from the state, it has recorded seven new cases, taking the total toll of positive cases to 20 so far. This past May 19, the state’s Garo hills which was COVID-free till the third phase also registered a positive case in a person who had returned from Chennai.States like Nagaland and Sikkim were completely free of COVID-19 till the third phase. However, in lockdown 4.0, while Sikkim has recorded a positive case in a student who has returned from Delhi, Nagaland has taken note of two cases who had returned to the state after the third phase of lockdown from Chennai. So far, Mizoram, which was declared COVID-19 free on May 9 after its lone patient recovered, has not registered a new case.