24 persons booked under EDO for entering Dharwad without informing

The District Administration has decided to book cases against 24 people, under the provisions of Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (EDO,) for entering Dharwad district without informing the district administration.

In the intervening night of May 21, the district administration picked up 35 people, including 24 from urban areas of Hubballi and Dharwad, and nine people from rural areas of Dharwad district who had registered to return to Dharwad but did not report to the administration.

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Of them, 24 were found to have violated the rules, while remaining nine had not made the onward journey to return to Dharwad. All were subjected to medical tests and later sent to quarantine.

As on May 22, more than 3,000 people ‘stranded’ in other States had registered themselves in Seva Sindhu to return to Dharwad. However, only 1,855 returned to District via official channels, including Shramik trains, buses, and private vehicles.

All those who returned were tested at University of Agriculture Science (UAS), Dharwad and sent to institutional quarantine either at government facilities or private hotels.

Missing link

There was a missing link of 1,200 people.

The district administration through its tracking system traced the contact details of the people who had applied to return but had not reported to the district administration. The administration fished out these 35 cases and decided to bookcases against the 24 erring people.

Speaking to DH, Deputy Commissioner Deepa Cholan said, “people should realise that the institutional quarantine and testing are being done for the good of the returnees and their family. They should have informed the administration about their arrival,” she added.

She said, by hiding their arrival, these people have risked the lives of not only their family but also others in the society. Taking their offence into consideration, the administration has decided to file cases under the stringent provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act.

“Today, Dharwad’s number of cases is less because of the strict contact tracing and quarantining those returning from other States. All the recent cases that were reported in Dharwad are of returnees,” she said.