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Coronavirus in India: Migrants running away from quarantine
By Geeta PandeyBBC News, Delhi
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionHundreds have returned home, but conditions in quarantine are often squalid
Thousands of Indians who fled cities to return to their villages after the government imposed a coronavirus lockdown have been running away from quarantine centres.
In government schools and village council buildings thousands of shelters have been set up in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
But many of them lack basic facilities.
In some shelters in Bihar, people have been slipping out at night but returning during the day for free food.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are among India's most populous states and have a combined population of more than 350 million. An outbreak in these densely populated regions could result in a catastrophe.
Why did people flee to villages?
Millions of people in these states - among India's poorest - migrate to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in search of livelihoods. Many also go to work in the textile and diamond industries of Gujarat.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on 24 March to halt the spread of Covid-19, hundreds of thousands of them - forced out of jobs and with no means of earning a living - began fleeing the cities.
As thousands began their journey back home, the governments in the two states ordered a 14-day mandatory quarantine for the returnees.
Council buildings and schools were identified as places where the migrants could be housed, but most were allowed to go home after they were checked for Covid-19 symptoms.
What is happening at the centres?
Reports say most of those who went to quarantine facilities in and around their villages either left or have been slipping in and out to visit their villages and homes.
One local journalist in Pratapgarh, Amitendra Srivastava, said five people who had returned to his village Babu Patti did not go to the quarantine centre set up in the school building.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
He said no-one responded when villagers called the police and the control room, so he used his influence as a journalist and called the top administration and health officials.
"A team of doctors visited the village 30 hours later to check the returnees, but they were allowed to stay at home," he says.
Who is responsible for keeping them there?
The village chiefs who have been given the responsibility to ensure that those put in quarantine remain there have not been able to do so because they do not have police or security personnel to stop people from leaving, BBC Hindi's Samiratmaj Mishra in Noida told me.
Also, he says, the village council elections are due later in the year in Uttar Pradesh and no village head can afford to antagonise people at such a time.
Last week, after several reports of people running away from quarantine, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that if anyone was found missing from a facility, top police and administration officials would be held responsible. So, in the past few days, police have been hunting those who are running away and registering cases against them.
India migrants running away from quarantine camps
https://flip.it/eTLtbR
By Geeta PandeyBBC News, Delhi
- 14 April 2020
- India
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionHundreds have returned home, but conditions in quarantine are often squalid
Thousands of Indians who fled cities to return to their villages after the government imposed a coronavirus lockdown have been running away from quarantine centres.
In government schools and village council buildings thousands of shelters have been set up in the northern states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
But many of them lack basic facilities.
In some shelters in Bihar, people have been slipping out at night but returning during the day for free food.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are among India's most populous states and have a combined population of more than 350 million. An outbreak in these densely populated regions could result in a catastrophe.
Why did people flee to villages?
Millions of people in these states - among India's poorest - migrate to big cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata in search of livelihoods. Many also go to work in the textile and diamond industries of Gujarat.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown on 24 March to halt the spread of Covid-19, hundreds of thousands of them - forced out of jobs and with no means of earning a living - began fleeing the cities.
As thousands began their journey back home, the governments in the two states ordered a 14-day mandatory quarantine for the returnees.
Council buildings and schools were identified as places where the migrants could be housed, but most were allowed to go home after they were checked for Covid-19 symptoms.
What is happening at the centres?
Reports say most of those who went to quarantine facilities in and around their villages either left or have been slipping in and out to visit their villages and homes.
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One local journalist in Pratapgarh, Amitendra Srivastava, said five people who had returned to his village Babu Patti did not go to the quarantine centre set up in the school building.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
He said no-one responded when villagers called the police and the control room, so he used his influence as a journalist and called the top administration and health officials.
"A team of doctors visited the village 30 hours later to check the returnees, but they were allowed to stay at home," he says.
Who is responsible for keeping them there?
The village chiefs who have been given the responsibility to ensure that those put in quarantine remain there have not been able to do so because they do not have police or security personnel to stop people from leaving, BBC Hindi's Samiratmaj Mishra in Noida told me.
Also, he says, the village council elections are due later in the year in Uttar Pradesh and no village head can afford to antagonise people at such a time.
Last week, after several reports of people running away from quarantine, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that if anyone was found missing from a facility, top police and administration officials would be held responsible. So, in the past few days, police have been hunting those who are running away and registering cases against them.
India migrants running away from quarantine camps
https://flip.it/eTLtbR
