With the coronavirus scare triggering mass home return of migrant workers of Odisha, the authorities in the State have taken measures to prevent mass gatherings and set up quarantine camps at the village community halls and Government-run health centres.
More than 10 lakh people from the State’s Ganjam and Kendrapada districts are employed in textile, cotton-ginning, carpet, diamond-polishing, and construction sectors in States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
A senior Kendarpada official said the district authorities have geared up to keep a tab on the health profiles, travel histories and clinical records of the returnees.
In Ganjam, the administration has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC to prevent mass gatherings, Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said.
“Labour officers have been asked to keep a strict vigil on those returning from other states. The prohibitory orders will remain in force till further orders,” he said.
Kendrapada is also witnessing mass homecoming of migrant labourers, many of them from Covid-19-affected States, Collector Samarth Verma said.
“The administration is leaving no stone unturned to ensure people’s safety at this hour. Isolation wards for quarantining vulnerable people will be set up soon,” he said.
Panic is palpable among the residents of the district, Verma said, insisting that Sarpanches of Panchayats and Ward Members and Councillors of urban local bodies are working every day to identify suspected cases.
“We are not taking any chance. Special arrangements have been made at all health centres to isolate suspected cases. Officials are screening the returnees. So far, we haven’t found anyone with symptoms of Covid-19,” Verma added.