Forty-seven people under quarantine have been locked inside their homes with their families by authorities in Madhya Pradesh to prevent them from moving out during the isolation period of 14 days, according to officials.
This is the first time such a step has been resorted to by authorities in the state in the fight against Covid-19. This was done in Khajuraho and Rajnagar towns of Chhatarpur district, about 350 km northeast of Bhopal, on Thursday evening.
Both towns have been under curfew since March 25, after it was found a tourist infected by the Coronavirus had visited the places. Arrangements have been made for delivery of essential goods to the people locked within their homes.
The sub-divisional magistrate of the area, Swamnil Wankhede, said he took the decision to lock the houses as the families were not cooperating with the administration in observing home isolation norms.
“The step was taken for only those persons who went out of the district after March 30 and returned after getting themselves treated in hospitals in Gwalior, Bhopal, Kanpur, Allahabad, Delhi and other places. We had not put any lock earlier but we observed that in the past two days, many of them violated the home quarantine norms and moved out,” he said.
“Since they came from areas which are in a danger zone as far as Covid-19 is concerned and they were not willing to follow the home quarantine norms strictly, such a step was taken by the administration.”
The families of these 47 people had to be quarantined too as they were in touch with them, Wankhede said.
He said arrangements were made for delivering goods to meet the needs of the people locked within their houses. “We have given them phone numbers for home delivery of essential items. We have also provided emergency phone numbers to them in case they need it,” he said.
The ‘patwari’ of the area and nagar parishad employees will visit these houses every morning and evening, he added.
Though outsiders aren’t being allowed to enter the area, Wankhede said similar steps will be taken for anyone who comes to the district from outside and doesn’t cooperate with the administration in observing home isolation.
Chhatarpur’s Congress MLA, Alok Chaturvedi, criticised the administration’s action, describing it as “autocratic and inhuman”.
“The administration has unleashed a reign of terror instead of creating awareness among people. The public representatives were not taken into confidence before taking such a harsh measure,” he said.
However, Chhatarpur’s district collector Sheelendra Singh said, “The step is just to ensure they strictly follow the home quarantine norms to ensure their own safety and that of others in society. The decision was taken only when it was observed that they left their houses during the night. If they are willing to cooperate with the administration and stay in their houses during the [quarantine] period, we will remove the locks.”
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