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Nanded-returnees put Punjab on the defensive in fight against Covid-19
Credit war behind rush to bring back 4,000 stranded pilgrims from coronavirus-hit Maharashtra turns into blame game with every second positive case in state a Nanded-returnee
Just when the Covid-19 situation seemed to be back under control in Punjab after the initial NRI and Tablighi Jamaat scares, the return of 4,000 stranded pilgrims from Takht Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, over the week has emerged as a bigger challenge for the state in its fight against coronavirus.
Extending the curfew till May 17 two days before the Centre decided on Lockdown 3.0, the Capt Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab knows it is in for a tough battle. Within three days, every second Covid-19 patient in the state is a pilgrim back from Maharashtra. Of today’s 750 positive cases in the state, 360 are pilgrims back from Nanded.
The pilgrims from across Punjab, Haryana and Delhi were stuck in Nanded for more than a month since the nationwide lockdown. Akal Takht jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh and Union minister and Bathinda Akali MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal were quick to take up the cause of the pilgrims with the central and state governments.
Not to be seen to be lagging, the Punjab government urged the Centre and its Maharashtra counterpart to facilitate the return of the pilgrims.
Capt Amarinder Singh is learnt to have spoken to his counterparts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to allow hassle-free passage to Punjab.
The credit war between the Badals and the chief minister was cut short with news of pilgrims testing positive for Covid-19 started emerging.
With other states dithering, Punjab sent its own buses to bring back its natives but the risk of coronavirus spreading grew by the day.
‘SOP NOT FOLLOWED, NANDED
GURDWARA MGMT TRUSTED’
More than 600 pilgrims entered Punja’b by hiring local vehicles and those provided by the gurdwara management by April 26. They were sent to home quarantine after thermal screening. The samples of a few suspected cases were taken in Tarn Taran.
On April 27, three residents of Tarn Taran district tested positive. In a knee-jerk reaction, principal secretary, health, Anurag Verma ordered that all Nanded returnees be sent to state government facilities.
Punjab Police was tasked with bringing back the pilgrims and their contacts from home quarantine to the state facilities for testing.
A senior government functionary claimed that the state government did not follow the standard operating procedure in bringing back the pilgrims and relied on information provided by the gurdwara management that claimed that the pilgrims were tested thrice during their stay.
AC BUSES SHOULD’VE BEEN AVOIDED
Experts say the next blunder was sending air-conditioned buses to bring back the pilgrims when it’s known that that the contagious virus spreads fast in such an environment.
Given the high number of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, as it happens to be the worst-hit state in the country, the state government should have been cautious in screening all pilgrims returning from there.
PUNJAB BLAMES MAHARASHTRA
The Punjab government now its Maharashtra counterpart for giving it wrong information about the health status of the pilgrims.
“The Maharashtra government did not clarify properly if these pilgrims were tested or not. They kept telling us since Nanded is a green zone, pilgrims are safe and tests have been performed on them,” Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said.
The credit war has now turned into a blame game between the Congress government and the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal. The Akal Takht jathedar has also wriggled out of the controversy, saying that it’s all a conspiracy to defame the Sikh community.
