Berhampur: In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Ganjam district administration conducted screening of all passengers coming from other states and countries into the district at Berhampur railway station in the wee hours of Sunday.
Sources said several workers from Mumbai, Chennai, Surat, Andhra Pradesh and other cities and states underwent the screening at Berhampur railway station for COVID 19 after their arrival. The process continued till Monday afternoon.
“Around 3,950 passengers were screened at the railway stations. Besides, the district administration had made all arrangements to help them reach their respective houses. 40 buses were kept ready for this purpose,” said an official.
Meanwhile, Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange, Berhampur sub-Collector Dattatreya Bhausaheb and Berhampur SP Pinak Mishra are taking stock of the situation.
Eight medical teams were deployed at the railway station to check the health condition of the returnees.
Konark Express (Mumbai-Bhubaneswar) had reached at Berhampur railway station Sunday early morning. About 1,500 passengers were in the train. Meanwhile, the district headquarters officials with the medical team checked the health-condition of all the passengers.
Similarly, screenings of 500 passengers on Trivendrapur-Shalimar Express, 1,500 passengers on Ahmedabad-Puri Express, 350 passengers on Mangalore-Santragachi train and 100 passengers on Secunderabad-Howrah train were conducted.
RPF inspector Dillip Kumar said, “Since the trains had already started their journey to their destinations before the cancellation order was announced hence, these trains continued their journeys to their final destination.”
March 21, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced near-complete lockdown in five districts and eight towns for one week starting March 22 in first phase. The lockdown is in force in districts of Khurda, Cuttack, Ganjam, Kendrapara and Angul and towns of Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Balasore, Jajpur road, Jajpur town and Bhadrak.
PNN