This story is from March 31, 2020

Influx of natives from Surat puts Amreli, Bhavnagar admns at wits end

mid the COVID-19 pandemic, around seven people were enjoying ‘bhajiya’ party deep inside a field in Jira village near Savarkundla last week.
Influx of natives from Surat puts Amreli, Bhavnagar admns at wits end
Around 3.5 lakh people from Surat have returned to their villages
RAJKOT: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, around seven people were enjoying ‘bhajiya’ party deep inside a field in Jira village near Savarkundla last week. But the enjoyment was short-lived as a team of Amreli police raided the farm and booked them for violating public notification. These persons were among lakhs, who are natives of Amreli, but settled in Surat for job or business.

The massive influx of Amreli and Bhavnagar natives from Surat after rising COVID-19 cases there has left the district administrations perturbed. They are at their wits end over screening such large number of people, many of whom could be potentially infected and could transmit the virus to others.
Their worry has aggravated after the death of a 45-year-old woman, who had returned from Surat, to her native village Jesar taluka of Bhavnagar. Official sources said that she had returned few days ago but not informed any authority until she was referred to a government hospital on Sunday morning. “Had the district administration known about her condition, we could have isolated her and begun treatment,” said VK Baranwal, Bhavnagar DDO.
Amreli and Bhavnagar collectors told TOI that roughly 3.5 lakh people from Surat have returned to their natives in villages here in the last fortnight. People are hiding in farms, locked themselves up in the house and living at relatives’ place.
Police and administration officials said many have smartly skipped the checkposts and taken internal roads to enter the district, while others came in private vehicles like cargo vehicles, bikes tankers and even on foot.
Amreli collector Aayush Oak told TOI: “We have deployed a team of 3,500 people for house-to-house survey to know if there are people from Surat, Ahmedabad or Rajkot. It’s a mammoth task to survey all 16 lakh people of the district. People are finding convenient hiding spots or locals are shielding them. Our staff is not welcome in the village and sometimes we have to take the help of police.”

He has now now asked sarpanchs to give the details of non-residents after identifying those villages who have more number of people working in Surat. There are nearly five lakh people from Amreli district alone who are engaged in Surat’s diamond and textile industry.
The situation in adjoining Bhavnagar is no different. DDO Baranwal said, “There are lakhs of people who have came from Surat to their natives, but we don’t have adequate staff to trace them. We are tired of appealing people to register themselves if they have come from other districts. These people are posing high risk of spreading infection.”
Surat collector Dhaval Patel said, "Many people left Surat for their native villages in Saurashtra even before the lockdown was enforced. These people had not left city because of scare of corona-virus but they wanted to enjoy their village life on their farms and escaped every enforcement efforts and took interior routes to reach their hometowns and villages,''
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About the Author
Nimesh Khakhariya

Nimesh Khakhariya is an assistant editor with Times Of India.

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