Daily Times

The Sindh and Balochistan governments have agreed to share data of 7000 to 8000 passengers coming from Iran via Taftan border opened on Friday so that their necessary medical investigation could be made.

This emerged when Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah while presiding over a second day follow-up meeting of Taskforce on Coronavirus here on Friday at CM House talked to federal minister for Interior Aijaz Shah and inquired of him about the authentication of the news of the federal government decision to open Taftan, Balochistan border.

The federal minister told the chief minister that the Pakistanis who went to Iran had gathered at the border to return to Pakistan. He told the chief minister that had the Taftan borders been kept closed, the stranded people would have taken other routes of pores border between the two countries to reach back to Pakistan, therefore border has been opened.

Sindh Chief Minister just after talking to federal interior minister talked to Chief Minister of Balochistan and discussed with him the issues of the Pakistan coming back via Taftan border. The Balochistan chief minister told his counterpart in Sindh that 7000 to 8000 Pakistanis were coming from Iran. AT this, the chief minister said that they must be kept in quarantine for the period the experts/doctors were suggesting. The Chief Minister Balochistan said that his government was making necessary arrangements to keep the passengers coming from Iran to keep them at quarantine at the borders and in the nearby areas.

Sindh chief minister requested his counterpart in Balochistan to develop data of all the passengers coming from Iran and share the same with Sindh, Punjab and KPK governments for necessary action. They both agreed to share the data through their respective chief secretaries.

The chief minister was told that 557 people of Karachi had gone to Iran, of them the government had established contact with 466 passengers and the reaming had either not returned yet or their houses were locked or had given wrong addresses.

The chief minister directed commissioners to ensure opening of deputy commissioners offices/District control rooms even on holidays so that suspects and other people could be helped accordingly. The chief minister directed health department to keep checking the passengers who have comeback.