Nuapada: Nuapada is known for migration of labourers. Owing to the COVID situation, the district is witnessing a reverse migration of workers from other states since Unlock-1 came into force.
Reports said, 65,344 migrant labourers, who were stranded in other states, have come back to the district till date. The mandatory quarantine period for 63,988 of them has ended. They are supposed to remain in home quarantine for a week, but most of them violate the guideline and are found moving freely in villages, causing panic among people when the COVID infection cases are increasing in the district.
The administration should restrict them from venturing out of their houses, or else others will face the consequences, locals observed.
Almost all migrant returnees have no work at hand to lead their lives at this crisis time. When asked about it, some lamented that as they have nothing to eat and drink, they feel compelled to venture out with hopes of getting work and food.
The influx of migrants has thrown a challenge to the administration when it comes to providing livelihood and income-generation activities to daily wagers and returnees. The state government laid stress on creating a scope of income generation for workers.
Now, officials are not checking their health status at regular interval, but it is not being checked, it was alleged. Swab tests of 4043 people have been conducted while 82 cases have come positive. What is worrying is that most of these positive cases were asymptomatic.
Local residents have demanded that the swab tests should be expedited for migrant labourers while officials need to monitor home quarantine of the returnees.
CDMO Kalicharan Behera said the situation is being monitored.
PNN