Nischintakoili: Even though Cuttack collector Bhabani Shankar Chaini had directed Nischintakoili block officials to finish work on quarantine centres in all panchayats by May 3, almost half of them don’t have functional quarantine centres as of Friday- five days past the deadline.
There are 41 panchayats in Nischintakoili block of Cuttack district. Of them, only 20 panchayats have quarantine centres. In the remaining 21 panchayats, the centres have not been fully completed as yet. In some centres, work on toilets is still going on. In others, electrification work is yet to be completed.
“At a time when migrant labourers stuck in different places due to lockdown have started coming to their villages, the quarantine centres being not ready to take them in may make the matter worse,” an elderly local man pointed out.
With an intention to be in the good book of the collector, the block administration is claiming that all the centres have already been set up. But the ground reality tells a different story, he alleged.
Panchayati Raj Minister Pratap Jena, recently during a review meeting, directed the district administration to be ready with 4,000 beds in Nischintakoili block. That said, not even half of the targeted beds are prepared as of now.
Meanwhile, 51 migrants have returned from Bangalore and Hyderabad to the block. The panchayat wise breakup is as follows: Narendrapur (five), Natkai (five), Ramkrushnapur (five), Palada (four), Jayrampur (four), Jugnipur (four), Katikata (three), Sukarpada (three), Babujang (two), Jhadeswar (two), Nemal (two), each to Bandhakatia (one), Baroda (one), Daudpur(one), Fogal (one), Hamara (one), Jhadeswarpur (one), Kalamishri (one), Katarpada (one), Manijang (one), Nagaspur (one), Taratsashan (one) and Utarkul (one).
These returnees are staying in some of the completed quarantine centres.