Coronavirus: Migrants sprayed with disinfectants in UPs Bareilly; DM assures strict action

A video shot in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district has raised questions on how migrant workers who decided to return to their native towns after the lockdown, are being treated by the authorities. In the video, more than two dozen migrant workers can be seen sitting on a street as sanitation workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectants on the workers.

Who r u trying to kill, Corona or humans? Migrant labourers and their families were forced to take bath in chemical solution upon their entry in Bareilly. @Uppolice@bareillytraffic @Benarasiyaa @shaileshNBT pic.twitter.com/JVGSvGqONm

- Kanwardeep singh (@KanwardeepsTOI) March 30, 2020

The video has caused a stir online. Attempting to quell the matter Bareilly District Abhishek Prakash responded to questions about the conduct of the sanitation workers as displayed in the video. The DM said those responsible for the act are being summoned on the order of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO). "Teams of Bareilly municipal corporation and fire brigade personnel were instructed to sanitise buses but they did so (spray disinfectants on people) as a measure of extra precaution. Orders have been issued for action against concerned persons" said the DM.

After the 21-day nation-wide lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister on March 24 to curb the spread of the coronavirus, thousands of migrant workers started to head back to their native towns and villages. Because of the lockdown, buses and train services were not running, left with no other choice many decided to walk all the way to their native towns.

The governments of Delhi and UP arranged for buses at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghazipur to transport migrant workers back to their native towns and villages. A statement by the UP government had said that these workers will undergo thermal screening before making their way home.

At the same time, the Bihar government decided to house migrant workers returning to their homes in quarantine camps in order to ensure that they don't unknowingly spread coronavirus.

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