366 leave for Odisha in 3 special flights
Curbs in Bhaderwah as 4 shopkeepers test +ve
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 7: After massive surge in Corona cases during past one week, only 15 cases were reported across Jammu region today while as many as 366 stranded migrants left for Odisha in three special flights from Jammu, thanking the Naveen Patnaik Government and the J&K administration for making arrangements for their return.
Seven persons tested positive in Jammu district today including a couple aged 54 and 47 hailing from Bikram Chowk on outskirts of the City, a 58-year old woman from Sector-2 in Model Town, Gangyal, wife of an Assistant Engineer of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, presently at IIT College Jagti, a 29-year-old woman from Paloura, a 32-year -old youth from Sainik Colony and 24-year old youth from Airport Road. The IIT College Jagti woman was under treatment at SMGS Hospital and was found COVID positive.
All of them were under administrative quarantine and have been shifted to COVID Hospitals.
Police have traced number of contacts of a Government Medical College (GMC) doctor, who was also practicing at Nagrota and was tested positive yesterday.
SDPO Nagrota Mohan Lal Sharma said number of contacts have been traced and isolated for sampling. The area near Sainik School where the doctor was practicing might be contained, he added.
Four shopkeepers of Bhaderwah town in Doda district whose samples had been taken during random sampling for COVID, today tested positive after which the town was shut by the administration and strict restrictions were enforced.
The positive shopkeepers hailed from Qila Mohalla, China Mohalla, Jia Road and Mohalla Haweli in Bhaderwah.
Their samples were taken by the Health Department during random sampling of vegetable, meat and other vendors in Bhaderwah.
SSP Doda Mumtaz Ahmed said strict restrictions have been reinforced in Bhaderwah town of Doda district after four positive cases. All four have been shifted to COVID Hospitals.
Two persons belonging to villages Chack Satake and Kamala in Ramgarh area of Samba district with travel history of New Delhi have tested positive for COVID-19, SSP Samba Shakti Pathak said.
He added that both the positive cases were under administrative quarantine and have been sent to hospital.
A 26-year-old youth of village Marrha and 20-year-old from Hari, both in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district tested positive today. They had returned from Mumbai and New Delhi where they were working, SSP Poonch Ramesh Angral said, adding that the duo have been shifted from quarantine centres to the Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu.
Meanwhile, a 48-year-old man, who was tested Corona positive yesterday, was on a scheduled business trip to Jain Bazaar in Jammu City but couldn’t reach the Bazaar as he was put under administrative quarantine on arrival from Jammu Railway Station. He is admitted in the Chest Diseases Hospital at Bakshi Nagar Jammu and is mild symptomatic but stable.
A total of nine Corona patients were today treated and discharged. They included three each from Jammu and Udhampur, two from Kathua and one Rajouri.
According to official figures, Jammu region has total 889 cases. Of them, 684 are active cases while 200 have recovered and there have been five deaths.
Meanwhile, the Odisha migrants, mostly labourers, were picked up in State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses from various parts of the Jammu city and outskirts shortly after sunrise and taken to the Jammu airport.
“The first flight, carrying 122 passengers, left for Odisha around 9.30 am, followed by two other flights with equal number of passengers each at 10.20 am and 11.30 am,” officials said.
The Odisha Government had arranged the three special flights for its residents.
“We facilitated their smooth travel to the airport from their rented accommodations and ensured that they do not face any problem while boarding their flights,” an official from civil administration said.
He said all passengers were screened by a special team of doctors.
Around 600 Odisha residents had already left for their home State by special trains last month.
“They are the ones who have expressed their desire to return to their home State due to the Coronavirus-driven lockdown,” he replied when asked how many Odisha residents were still living in Jammu.
Santosh Bodah, one of the migrant workers, thanked Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Jammu and Kashmir Government for facilitating their return.
“We had registered on the Government portal for our return and were surprised to receive a call from Odisha informing that the Government has made arrangements for our return through special flight,” he said.
Bodah said they had been eagerly waiting to return for over two months now.
“The lockdown rendered us jobless. We were facing tremendous hardships in meeting our daily needs and were desperate to return,” he said before leaving the city’s outskirts for the airport along with 45 others.
Bodah said he was happy to return home to be with his family in the present crisis and would take a call on coming back to Jammu for work at an “appropriate time”.
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