Bhubaneswar: Odisha transport minister Padmanabha Behera on Sunday ordered a probe into the return of several labourers including fishermen to the State from Tamil Nadu in violation of nation-wide lockdown clamped in the wake of SARS n-CoV pandemic.
“Apparently the labourers were desperate to return home fearing the current lockdown situation and purchased a boat to reach their destinations via sea route. A probe will certainly be undertaken as to how and under which circumstances they managed to reach Odisha during the lockdown,” said Behera.
“As boat services come under the Transport department, I have instructed the officials in our department to look into the matter,” the transport minister said.
Behera further warned that if any person is found coming to the State in such an illegal way by violating national COVID lockdown rules, action will be taken accordingly.
Speaking about security in the coastal areas, Pranabindu Acharya, ADGP of Railways and Coastal security said, “Marine police are keeping a vigil at coastal areas. Those who are returning through sea route are immediately detained and put under quarantine. All the people in coastal areas have been sensitised. Home guards have been deployed in all coastal villages and fish landing points.”
As many as 38 people reached Pati Sonepur coast in Ganjam district on a boat from Tamil Nadu last evening. According to reports, they had brought the boat for about Rs 2 lakh. Upon their arrival, they were detained by marine police and placed under quarantine.
On the other hand, the workers claimed that they had to go through a lot of hardship after they got stuck in Tamil Nadu due to the nation-wide lockdown.
“Due to the lockdown, we did not get work and our savings dried up. Unable to get foods for survival, we somehow arranged the boat and reached home,” they said.
Earlier, 27 fishermen including 10 from Odisha reached Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh from Chennai after a five-day journey in a boat. Nine of them were from Ganjam district and one from Puri. They were placed under quarantine at a centre in Ichchapuram.