Serpentine queues at government offices over NRC fear

People stood in serpentine overnight queues at the government, rural and civic body offices to obtain and get their personal documents rectified following the panic fuelled by “rumours” of an National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise.
The panic is not limited to the districts. The number of people queuing up for birth certificates at the Kolkata Municpal Corporation office had more than doubled over the past few days.
Also Read Bengal: 6 died due to panic over NRC The department is now receiving over 250 applications per day including elderly applicants who were born in the 1960s and ’70s  .
“It could be due to fears over the NRC,” Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh told IANS.
At Habra in the North 24 Parganas district, the Block Development Office was forced to be opened at 6 a.m. to cope with the pressure of a large number of people rishing in to rectify or get new ration cards.
The state government had announced that new and amended ration cards would be distributed till September 27.