CUTTACK: Even as the State Government has put gram panchayats at the forefront to prevent spread of coronavirus, several quarantine centres have been set up across the district in gross violation of the guidelines.
Ignoring the norms like evaluation of potential sites, risk assessment and securing entry and exit points, temporary medical camps (TMCs) have been established on the premises of nursing homes and even libraries.
A quarantine centre has been set up on the premises of a three-storey building where a nursing home named Das Hospital and Patholab is functioning.
The centre is located along the Cuttack-Chandbali State Highway at Bahabalpur in Jignipur panchayat.
While many migrants returned from outside State have been quarantined at the TMC, it has posed high risk to hundreds of patients visiting the hospital daily.
Questions are being raised as to how the district administration gave permission to set up the quarantine centre on the premises of the functional nursing home without stopping treatment of general patients there.
Similarly, while a TMC has been set up at Satabdi Library and Community Centre in Bandhakatia panchayat, another has been established on the premises of a Madrasa at Kazihat under Jairampur panchayat.
As per the guidelines, quarantine centres should have been set up away from people’s reach, crowded and populated areas. However, most of these are located in close vicinity of residential areas and not well protected and secured.
“While several Government schools and other establishments’ buildings are available in the localities, why the administration has gone for setting up TMCs at these private facilities,” questioned locals.
“All the TMCs have been set up as per the Government guidelines, there is no problem at all,” said Nischintakoili BDO Karnadev Samaddar.
The owner of the building housing the nursing home had shown interest in renting out the upstairs for quarantine purpose following which permission was given to up the TMC, he added.
Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani, who admitted that the TMC was set up illegally on the premises of nursing home, said he has already instructed the BDO to withdraw the TMC from the premises of the private hospital immediately beside checking the feasibility of the centres set up at private facilities.