At Goa’s busiest checkpost, two men stand guard against coronavirus

PANAJI: Even as concerns over Covid-19 have spiked in Goa with eight new cases over the past two days, over 50 goods carriers rolled in to the state at the Patradevi border on Friday without so much as a temperature check of the drivers.
The border with Maharashtra is Goa’s busiest and sees over 300 goods vehicles pass through daily. From 11.30am to 1.30pm, the trucks passed through unimpeded, as the two overworked health officials on duty were busy with the 86 crew members of Karnika, who also entered Goa on Friday.
Even over a month after lockdown was enforced, the arrangements and deployment at the Patradevi border remain poor, despite the massive traffic it sees daily compared to other check posts like Keri or Dodamarg.
As lockdown 4.0 sees more inter-state traffic, there are fears that the inadequate staff deployment at this busy border may put a spoke in the state’s fight against Covid-19.
The staff deployed at the Patradevi border are mostly police personnel and homeguards and have been alarmed after a goods carrier driver tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. Collectorate staff have also been trained to record temperatures, but on Friday morning, none were seen doing so.
While citizens carrying transit permits are placed under facility quarantine until their Covid-19 test results are known, a health official said that as per guidelines issued by the Union ministry of home affairs, goods carriers are to be granted seamless entry.
However, in Goa, truck drivers are also subjected to having their temperatures taken, as a precautionary measure—except on Friday—when this minimal precaution was skipped due to the workload.
“Yes, I am worried for my safety, but I can’t do anything about it. Even if I get slight sore throat these days, I feel like I have got Covid-19,” said a policeman. “Given our duty, and with so many people around, I forget to take care of myself. It is just not possible,” he added, as he walked continuously between check-in points to oversee arrangements or to attend to inquiries from stranded people waiting for entry.
At Dodamarg, a policeman admitted that they have far fewer people to check, and that people and vehicles move in an orderly manner. “We see roughly 10-15 stranded people entering Goa daily,” he said.
“Things are worst at Patradevi,” the Dodamarg cop said. “Some goods vehicles are now getting diverted to Dodamarg due to the long waiting period there. We are doing well so far, but I don’t know how things will be once the monsoon starts.” Here, health officials have full protective gowns and face shields, in addition to masks.
At the Keri check post in Sattari taluka, which shares a border with Karnataka, Friday saw around 250-300 trucks, in addition to private vehicles, cross the border. However, this border, seems to have its facilities right, though many don’t use them.
For instance, a walk-in kiosk to drop samples for the Covid-19 test was almost empty between 3pm and 4pm. While most people seemed to be in a hurry to get across the border rather than give their sample, a cop at the site said some people do use the kiosk.