Uttar Pradesh increases vigil after migrant influx

LUCKNOW: While the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to shut down 15 districts from March 23-25, it has also increased vigil in another 15 districts that saw influx of migrant workers from Mumbai, Pune and Surat.
Starting Friday, thousands have rushed back to their homes in UP. After the railways announced suspension of trains till March 31, people packed themselves in trains, defying ‘social distancing’ advice and raising fears of coronavirus spreading to the interiors of the state.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, while announcing lockdown in the districts of Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Noida, Kanpur, Aligarh, Azamgarh, Agra, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Meerut, Gorakhpur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Moradabad in the first phase, also appealed to people who have rushed to their homes in UP from big cities, to observe home isolation and not step out.

Some of the districts seeing big movement of people include Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Mau, Kus hinagar, Jhansi, Gazipur, Ayodhya, Basti, Barabanki, Deoriya, Bhadohi, Sant Kabir Nagar, Gonda and Baliya. “A little carelessness now can invite big trouble,” the CM said.

“We thermally scanned those who returned recently and there names are being shared with the district officials who will monitor these people for virus symptoms,” Amit Mohan Prasad, prinicpal secretary , department of health, UP , told ET.