BHUBANESWAR : Even as there is no let-up in number of Covid-19 cases in the State capital, arrival of passengers to the city from high-risk states including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana via train continues unabated even during the ongoing lockdown.
After a virulent variant of the virus was detected in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the State government made 14-day quarantine mandatory for people coming to Odisha from the two states. While check posts have been erected in six districts that share their borders with Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, another high-risk State, the 14-day lockdown came into force from May 5.
Despite such efforts, flow of passengers to different parts of the State, especially to the Capital, from outside via train continues as usual raising serious concern over the management of the situation. Sources in Bhubaneswar railway station said around 8,000 to 10,000 passengers from different states are arriving in Bhubaneswar on a daily basis even during the lockdown.
What’s even more worrying is that around 1,800 such passengers are from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana especially from Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. Apart from daily express trains like Visakha and Konark, passengers are also arriving in the city in weekly trains from Chennai, Rameswaram, Puducherry, Tirupati and other places. Passengers, mostly migrants, are also coming in large numbers from Surat in Gujarat. “There has been no decision so far to cancel these trains even during the lockdown,” said an official.
Station Director Chittaranjan Nayak said 22 trains will be cancelled between May 8 and 17 in view of the lockdown which include Visakhapatnam-Raipur and Bhubaneswar-Palasa. However, sources said operation of major trains from high-risk states will continue. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up six registration counters at the station for tracking passengers.
The measure, however is highly inadequate as there is no proper mechanism in place to check if those arriving in the city are isolated for 14 days. Besides, there are only three paid isolation and quarantine facilities notified by BMC. The city is yet to have any temporary medical centre (TMC). BMC commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary could not be reached for his comment on the matter.