Migrants move freely out of quarantine centres close to Patna

Patna

Patna

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The government has made elaborate arrangements to quarantine people coming from outside and suspected of any COVID-related symptoms, but a visit to a few of them in the riverine belt of Patna showed neither the people nor the authorities were taking it seriously despite alarm bells ringing across the world.

Sample this: At the five quarantine centres in the riverine belt of Danapur along the Ganga river close to Patna, most of the inmates were missing when this correspondent reached there. They had been allowed to move out freely. They were themselves not taking the risk factor seriously.

What is more, none of the centres had any arrangement for sanitizer, soap, masks and gloves. Beds have been made by attaching benches of schools. For others, there was arrangement on floor.

At the Ganghara panchayat bhawan, where 39 migrants from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have been kept, none was present during the day time. An official present there said all the inmates had returned on March 22, but they were yet to undergo any medical test.

The situation at the Habaspur middle school quarantine centre, where 50 persons have been kept, the situation was only a shade better, with only 15 persons present during the day. Most of the inmates worked in Kolkata as labourers or drivers.

“Some of them have gone to take bath, while other may have gone to toilet. They don’t have any symptoms ever since they returned to their village on March 26,” said a villager.

At Madhopur middle school quarantine centre, there are 20 persons kept – 13 from Rourkela and seven from Gorakhpur. However, just one person was present. He said that despite having no symptom, he had been kept outside.

Kasimchak panchayat mukhiya Dinesh Rai said eight persons had been kept at the Manas centre, while four at another in Kasimchak. “But adequate supply of bleeching powder and sanitizers is not there,” he said.

Danapur BDO Devendra Kumar, on the other hand, refuted the charge, saying doctors had been regularly examining the people kept at quarantine homes, though none of them has so far shown any symptoms.

“Nobody is staying in our facility as of now but we have enough space,” said an official of district administration. “Each school has three or four rooms and all people coming back from outside the state will be kept together so we can handle a large number of people,” he said.

“We have not been given any masks or gloves or anything to protect ourselves when we go out and visit families where people have returned from other areas,” said Anita Devi, an ASHA worker with the Hetanpur primary health centre (PHC) in Danapur Diara. “How are we supposed to go and meet people without any protection?”.

The Bihar government has issued a circular on March 22, 2020, instructing district magistrates to make temporary arrangements in government schools and community centres to quarantine returning workers. The government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore from the chief minister’s relief fund for food and other arrangements at such locations.

Around 1.81 lakh migrants returned to Bihar amid the lockdown, but only 27,000 among them have been quarantined in 3,200 government schools.