The second batch of Odia migrant workers from Gujarat’s Surat reached Odisha’s Ganjam district in the early hours of Friday.
Three buses carrying 214 migrant workers reached Aska in Ganjam district at around 2.30 a.m. The district administration and police were ready to receive them. A medical team present at the spot conducted a preliminary medical screening of all returnees, who were immediately placed under quarantine at a centre set up for it at a school at Aska.
On Wednesday night, 217 other migrant workers from Surat reached Ganjam. They are also under 14 day quarantine at Dharakote and Sheragarh.
According to sources in the Ganjam district administration, around 2 lakh persons now in different States have registered to return to Ganjam. A large number of them are migrant workers to States like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Kerala. A train carrying migrant workers is to start from Kerala to Bhubaneswar in Odisha on Thursday.
The migrant workers who are reaching Ganjam by buses from Surat did not wait for government measures to evacuate them. They paid ₹3,500 each for their long journey in a privately contracted bus.
500 private buses
Pitambar Pradhan, an Odia lawyer, also president of Parprantiya Kamdar Sena (PKS) and Sramik Seva Sangh (SSS) in Surat said several more bus loads of migrant workers are expected to start from Surat. According to him, the Surat administration has allowed local buses to transport migrant workers to their respective States. “Around 500 private buses are now ready at the Sachin area of Surat to transport the migrant workers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ganjam district administration has decided to collect swab samples of all returnees for coronavirus (COVID-19) tests.
Sources said the strain on the local administration will mount when people return from West Bengal as a large number of positive cases in Odisha have been found to have links with West Bengal. Persons returning from the red zone Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts in Odisha will also undergo medical check-up.
The district administration has ordered the provision of nutritious food of the same quality at all the quarantine centres.