NUAPADA : Denied  entry into village owing to coronavirus fear, a migrant family of six has taken shelter in a ramshackle hut on the outskirts of Landopali village under Komna block for over a week.
Drona Bemal along with his family had gone to Rayagada a few months back to work at a brick kiln. Drona’s family includes his wife, sister, mother and two children. They were stuck in Rayagada due to the lockdown but managed to return to the district on May 24.

However, when they reached their village, villagers refused to allow them fearing that they might have been affected by coronavirus. Although he tried to convince them, the villagers refused to budge. The migrant labourer also approached the local sarpanch to accommodate him and his family in the temporary medical centre (TMC) but the latter expressed helplessness on the ground that the TMC was only meant for migrant labourers returning from other states.

With no other alternative, the family moved to a patch of land they own in the outskirts of the village and built a hut with logs and plastic sheet. They have been living there for last 11 days. Komna BDO, Shyam Lal Ray the local returnees can stay under home quarantine. “However, it is illegal not to allow them into their village. We have asked local police to take it up with the villagers and if they don’t agree, action will be taken against them”, he said.