Poor people arriving in Karnataka from outside the state seem to have been caught in a devil and deep sea situation: on the one hand is the deadly pathogen, coronavirus; on the other, free institutional quarantine.
Lacking even basic necessities like water, toilet or hygiene, these quarantine centres seem to be perfect places for the virus to thrive, and a stark reminder of bureaucratic bungling.
The evidence of the mismanagement was visible on Saturday morning when hundreds of villagers stopped six BMTC buses that brought the passengers to the Kittur Chennamma Residential Hostel in Telagarahalli, Anekal taluk, which had been designated for quarantining returnees.
After the locals ended their protest, another ordeal began for passengers, which culminated in a protest by the passengers and live-streaming of their nightmare.
Sharana Basava Patil, a teacher and activist, who was quarantined after arriving from Nagpur, said they were forced to live in inhuman conditions for two days.
“The officials had no clue about anything. We arrived in Bengaluru in the morning and had to go without food till 5 pm. In fact, the food was arranged by villagers who were protesting against our arrival and not officials,” he said.
Flash protest
Many passengers opposed the arrangement of putting more than 10 persons in one room. “There is no water in the toilets or bathroom. There are more than 40 people in one floor who share seven toilets. We are scared of an outbreak of not only COVID-19 but other diseases,” Patil said.
As their demands for hygiene, including cleaning of toilets, were not met even after two days, about 50 inmates of the facility started a flash protest on the roof of the hostel on Monday and beamed it live on Facebook.
Noor Jahan, a 25-year-old woman stuck in the facility with her three-month-old child, said she was scared for her life. “I am still recovering from a cesarean delivery. I do not know what will happen to me. Please save my baby,” she said.
Another woman Shah Jahan said she had been forced to stay in the facility with five children. “I’m scared for their safety. They did not even conduct a medical checkup till I shouted at them for hours. This is not the way to treat us,” she said.
Anekal Tahsildar Mahadev C said action will be initiated against officials for dereliction of duty. “I have ensured that all facilities will be provided by Tuesday evening. Some officials are working hard but those who failed to deliver have been warned,” he said.
Throwing a light on the mess, an official in the district administration said the BBMP hadn’t informed them about bringing these people to the hostel.
“Though we had notified 24 buildings as quarantine centres, no facility was arranged as we were told that the BBMP would come for our centres after it runs out of such buildings within the city. If this is the way to treat poor persons in quarantine, then we are looking at an explosion in cases,” the official said.
BBMP special commissioner Dr Ravikumar Surpur did not answer calls.
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