Bolangir: With more than 90, 000 migrants being expected to return Bolangir after the lockdown is withdrawn May 3, Bolangir district administration is staring at a great challenge in the days to come.
The district administration officials have been holding discussions with the sarpanchs regarding registration of the returnees, quarantine centres, their food and most importantly how to identify coronavirus affected persons among them.
According to reports, over 90,000 migrant labourers are expected to return to their villages in this district. On their return, they will be kept in quarantine centres for 14 days. This is going to prove to be a herculean task for the administration given the need for large numbers of quarantine centres.
In order to get a clear picture of how the panchayats have prepared themselves so far to face the challenge, collector Arindam Dakua held a discussion with the sarpanchs through video conferencing Saturday. All the key aspects of the programme starting from registration to the treatment of coronavirus affected persons was discussed in the conference.
That said, according to locals, the district administration might face issues in handling the situation once the influx begins.
“The quarantine centres set up in the panchayats are having a minimum of 30 and maximum of 100 beds. If thousands of migrant labourers start coming to the panchayats, it will be impossible for them to arrange quarantine centres for all of them. Besides, the biggest challenge for the district administration is to identify COVID-19 symptoms and enforce social distancing,” an elderly man said.
Collector Arindam Dakua, meanwhile, exuded confidence that the administration will be able to provide all facilities to the returnees
Notably, no coronavirus positive case has so far been found in Bolangir district.
PNN