Keonjhar: Amid an increase in COVID infection cases in Keonjhar, unrestricted entry and movement of migrant labourers from Bihar and West Bengal on NH-49 passing though the town has triggered fears of COVID at a community level.
It was alleged that the administration has not made proper screening of the migrant workers and failed to regulate the entry and movement of migrant labourers through the town.
At different places of the town, the migrants take shelters for days together before resuming their homeward journey. This has caused panic among locals in Keonjhar town.
Locals residing along NH-49 said these migrants answer to the call of nature wherever they wish. They purchase food and other items from shops while there are no restrictions for them. The situation has become chaotic.
“When their health status is not known, there is fear of spread of infection in the town. Though the municipality and the district administration were apprised of the situation, no preventive step was taken,” they rued.
They also pointed out the Collectorate area is often sanitized, but the NH-49, bus stops, chhaks and the area where these migrants make stopovers are not sanitized.
They suggested that the police need to set up a temporary camp at Judia Ghati on the outskirts of the town for housing these migrant labourers with facilities of food and toilets. The administration should arrange transportation for them at the temporary camp so that the spread of deadly virus can be prevented, they added.
This provision will at least prevent the spread of the infection in the area, they observed. Former Councilor Sudhir Nanda demanded the stretch of NH-49 passing through the town needs to be sanitized regularly.
The executive officer of the municipality has assured of sanitizing the roads in the town, but local people are keeping a watch on it, Nanda added.
Another person tested positive for COVID-19 in Champua block, taking the tally in the district to 21. The infected person had recently returned from Uttar Pradesh and was at a quarantine centre.
The area in the ward-7 of Champua NAC was declared as a containment zone.
PNN