Chennai Corporation, on Saturday, removed home quarantine stickers from the residence of actor Kamal Haasan, after a few workers of the health department had pasted the stickers based on an old address in a passport, as received from immigration authorities.
Chennai Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash instructed health officials to remove the sticker from the actor’s Alwarpet residence on Saturday. “Our staff pasted the quarantine sticker at Kamal Haasan residence because actor Gautami has returned from Dubai recently and her passport has this address,” he explained later.
Actor Gautami is reportedly currently residing in Sholinganallur zone in the southern region of the city, according to Chennai Corporation sources.
Chennai Corporation Deputy Commissioner (Health) Madusudhan Reddy said, “The Corporation received the address from the airport. It is based on the address given in the passport of actor Gautami, who travelled abroad recently. Our people ended up going and pasting the quarantine stickers at the address in Alwarpet given in the passport. We have traced the present address of actor Gautami in Sholinganallur,” said Mr. Reddy. The health department of Chennai Corporation will ask actor Gautami to be on home quarantine, officials said.
In the quarantine sticker pasted, the officials had mentioned a quarantine period from March 10 to April 6.
Chennai Corporation has collected the data of persons who returned from abroad from immigration authorities and asked them to be on home quarantine. But many of the addresses are outdated, primarily on account of people shifting residences.
According to estimates, less than 51% of the residents in Chennai own houses in the city. Many of residents who have passports are likely to have shifted residences. Chennai Corporation officials have started tracing the current address of residents who have travelled abroad.
In a statement, Kamal Haasan, actor and president of Makkal Needhi Maiam, said, “To all those who are concerned. A big thank you for your love. Based on the notice stuck outside my house, news has been spread saying that I have been quarantined. But, most of you already know that I have not been living there for the past few years and the Makkal Needhi Maiam party office has been functioning from there. So, the news that I have been quarantined is not true. As a precautionary measure, I have undertaken social distancing as I requested the public too. I would again reemphasise all of us to undertake social distancing as a precautionary measure. I also request all news agencies to verify news before breaking it so that fake news does not get spread.”
