RAIPUR: A man has been forced to act as nightwatchman for his daughter quarantined at Kudekela government high school in the elephant-hit Dharamjaigarh in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, about 220 km east of Raipur.
The woman who recently returned from Odisha is the lone occupant of the quarantine centre which has no security arrangements.
Fearing for her safety, the woman's father Sudhir Khalko spends the entire night sitting on a roofed platform outside the centre keeping guard. During the last one week, wild tuskers have killed four villagers in the region.
The woman in her early twenties was getting food Khalko brought for her from home, some 8 km away, as no food was provided at the centre.
“I am here since May 11. There is no security guard nor anyone at the quarantine centre during the night. Only during the morning, two female staff come for a few hours and leave. My father is apprehensive about my security and visits here daily in the evening and returns early next morning. He sleeps outside the school building. This area known for man-elephant conflict faces the worst impact from marauding tuskers. Who will be held responsible if a herd of elephants attack him?”, she said in a video, which has gone viral locally.
The Kudekela janpad panchayat has assigned 22 staff on round the clock duty for the quarantine centre at different hours but only two attend work daily.
She says that her father will stop visiting if some security personnel are deployed here during the night.
The tehsildar was sent to inquire into it following which food from the panchayat is now being offered to the woman but her father continues to visit daily and is allowed to sleep on a verandah outside.
“After coming to know about it, instructions have been given to ensure suitable arrangements including security for the quarantine centre. All those who will be brought here later would be given proper care and attention,” said Nandkumar Choubey, sub-divisional magistrate (Dharamjaigarh).