Covid-19 outbreak: 227 workers stranded in Gurdwara Majnu ka Tila rescued

They were shifted to two government schools in Nehru Vihar in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, after following due protocol pertaining to the coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2) pandemic, police said.

At least 227 migrants from Punjab, who were stranded in Delhi due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown, were evacuated from a gurudwara in North Delhi’s Majnu ka Tila by the police and Delhi government authorities on Wednesday, officials associated with the operation said.

The Delhi Police transported the migrants to government schools in special DTC buses. (mohd zakir/HT photo)

They were shifted to two government schools in Nehru Vihar in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, after following due protocol pertaining to the coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2) pandemic, police said.

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Although none of the migrants showed any symptom of the virus on Tuesday night, health officials will screen them for a confirmation at the two schools, which have been converted into quarantine centres, deputy commissioner of police (north), Monika Bhardwaj, said.

The evacuation comes after 29 people, who had attended a Tablighi Jamaat earlier this month in South Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, taking the total to 53 of the 152 cases in Delhi. The 53 were among over 2,300 people, including foreigners, who were staying in the religious establishment and were evacuated in the last two days.

At least seven such participants, who returned to their homes in Telangana, died due to the infection, triggering panic across the country and prompting authorities to carry out operations to identify, evacuate, and isolate people who had attended the religious congregation.

On Tuesday night, the police received information regarding a gathering of around 300 people in the vicinity of the gurdwara at Majnu ka Tila. Upon confirming the information, the Delhi government was intimated and requested to take the necessary steps.

“Directions were issued to the district magistrate concerned and the deputy commissioner of police to conduct a joint operation in order to evacuate the gurdwara premises at the earliest. Once done, people should be screened by doctors. Symptomatic cases should be sent to hospitals and asymptomatic cases should be accommodated in the quarantine facilities set up by the government. All individuals will be provided with regular meals and other essentials. After that, the gurdwara premises should be contained and sanitised as per the Delhi government’s protocol,” said Satya Gopal, additional chief secretary of Delhi.

After the necessary arrangements, the evacuation operation began on Wednesday. Till afternoon, a total of 227 people were shifted to the schools in the two buses.

Amid information that the evacuated people were to attend a religious gathering at the gurdwara, DCP Bhardwaj said, “All of them are migrant workers belonging to Punjab, but working in Delhi-NCR. They all took shelter in the gurdwara after the lockdown orders, as they had no way to return to their homes.”

A senior official of the government’s revenue department said, “The gurdwara committee should have informed the police and the subdivisional magistrate concerned about the gathering. A detailed report had been sought from the SDM and the government is likely to request the L-G to initiate the registration of an FIR by the police.”

In a video tweet, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) president, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, said that none of the evacuated persons was there to attend a religious gathering or employed in the gurdwara. He said that none of them exhibited any symptom of the infection.

“All of them had gathered outside the gurdwara from Noida, Faridabad and other parts of Delhi-NCR to board buses to Punjab, as many buses for their states run from near the gurdwara. They took shelter in the gurdwara as no buses were available. Three days ago, DSGMC arranged two buses and sent some people back,” Sirsa said in the video.

He said that after a complete lockdown was enforced in the city, many were stranded at the gurdwara, and he had informed the Punjab and Delhi governments about this through tweets and videos.

“We also shared a list of those people with a Punjab member of Parliament. From Tuesday night, the Delhi government administration has been taking care of them. They were evacuated and shifted to schools. The administration asked us to provide them food three times, which we will be doing,” he says in the video.