BENGALURU: In spite of prohibitory orders, residents of OMBR Layout in Banaswadi staged a protest on Saturday morning against the quarantining of 37 people in two hotels located in residential areas, prompting the BBMP and the police to shift them to back to Haj Bhavan.
The attendees of Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat had been brought to the Oyo hotels at OMBR Layout late on Friday night from Royal Orchid hotel in Yelahanka where the local residents had objected to housing them in their locality.
On Saturday, BBMP corporators joined hands with locals against the civic administration, exposing the lack of unity in the BBMP.
Even the health officials of OMBR Layout and Yelahanka said they were unaware of why people were housed in the Oyo hotels which are in residential areas.
Sharmila Ravinder, a resident of OMBR Layout said: “It’s a green zone and we have been taking all measures to ensure there are no (Covid-19) cases. Quarantining of people here exposes us to the risk... No information was given to us. It was only when ambulances and police landed that we got to know what it was.”
Anju Menezes, another resident, said there are many children and senior citizens in the locality.
BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar told TNSE that the quarantined people had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi recently.
While 13 of them are from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the rest are from Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and other countries.
“They cannot be sent back because of the lockdown. They were shifted from Haj Bhavan to Royal Orchid first because people from Ramanagara were shifted there. Then they were shifted to the Oyo hotel and now back to Haj Bhavan.”
“They are kept in quarantine so that we can keep a close watch on them and assess their health. Hotels have been chosen where health and police can reach quickly. Proper barricading and sealing is done to ensure the safety of others”, he said.
He said if people stage protests against government decisions during the lockdown, they will be arrested for violating the prohibitory orders.