Chhatrapur: Over 19,000 non-resident Odias, mostly migrant workers have so far arrived at the Jagannathpur Railway Station in Ganjam district till May 9. All of them are from either Gujarat or Kerala.
Ganjam district has emerged as the top hotspot for coronavirus infections in Odisha with 118 cases. The number is expected to go up with a large number of returnees expected back in the next one-two. So far 19 trains have arrived in Ganjam district with non-resident Odia returnees. One more is also on the way.
However, it is not that only people from Ganjam district have returned in these trains. People from the districts of Gajapati, Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Puri, Khurdha, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Bolangir, Boudh and Angul have also availed of the facility.
All the returnees have been sent to their respective districts by bus before being put under quarantine. Sixteen trains which came from Surat had 18,377 returnees and three from Kerala had 918 passengers, official sources said.
The Ganjam district administration has built 12 coronavirus screening centres at the Jagannathpur station. A number of medical teams have been formed to screen the passengers on arrival. Each team is headed by a doctor and the rest are healthcare professionals. All returnees are being given face masks and food packets after thermal screening and COVID-19 registration.
District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange has asked the denizens not to panic. In a video message releases earlier, Kulange informed that Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been imposed around all the quarantine centres in the district.
