Denied admission to enter village, Odisha youth gets quarantined in his car

Although the man had tested negative for Covid-19, some villagers insisted that he undergoes another round of quarantine.

A 30-year-old man in Odisha’s Covid-19 hotspot of Ganjam district has been forced to quarantine himself in his car for the last six days as villagers have not allowed him to enter the village.

Madhaba Patra in his car where he has quarantined himself. (HT PHOTO)

Madhaba Patra, a videographer staying in an apartment of Berhampur town in Ganjam district had gone to Bihar on some business-related trip on May 3 and returned after three days. As Patra had no symptoms of coronavirus, he was allowed by the administration to stay in home quarantine in Berhampur as per norms. After completing his quarantine period of 14 days in his apartment at Berhampur he tested negative for coronavirus, officials said.

After completing the 14-day quarantine period, he went to his village Dolaba in Sanakhemundi block of Ganjam in his car on the day cyclone Amphan was to pass by Odisha coast.

But a day after his arrival, the husband of a local anganwadi worker and some other villagers opposed Patra’s entry to the village and insisted that he undergo another round of quarantine.

The matter even reached the local police station, where the officials tried to make the villagers see reason. However, they insisted that the youth has to stay in quarantine. But unwilling to stay in the quarantine centre running in the school where several migrant workers too stayed, Patra said he would rather stay in his car.

“There is a risk of getting infected in institutional quarantine where many migrant workers are housed. So I decided to stay in my car. If I have to stay in quarantine twice, there is no point. Once I tested negative in Covid test and completed home quarantine I should have been free to go anywhere,” he said.

The Basudevpur grampanchayat sarpanch decided that Patra needed to spend a week in quarantine. Ganjam has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Odisha at 358.

Patra who parked himself near the quarantine centre is served food from there and gets to use the bathrooms and toilets at the facility. He sleeps in his car.

Sanakhemundi Block Development Officer Gayatridutta Nayak said the youth will complete his quarantine on May 27 and can visit his home.

Under Odisha’s new quarantine protocol for village areas, one has to be in institutional quarantine for seven days followed by home quarantine for another seven days.

Earlier this month, a 30-year-old man in Odisha’s Balasoredistrict had to spend three days in the toilet of his home before he wasshifted to a school because the village did not have a quarantine centre.