27 workers from Mumbai flee through fields near Vijayapura to evade quarantine

BELAGAVI: In order to evade quarantine, nearly 27 migrant labourers from Mumbai, including four pregnant women, escaped through fields in a border village near Vijayapura before health workers could reach there to carry out a mandatory health check-up.
The daily wagers, who belong to Muddebihal village in Vijayapura district, had left Mumbai in a tempo and reached Telasanga village in Athani taluk in Belagavi district on Monday morning.
Telasanga village is close to Maharashtra border.
The tempo had reached the village bypassing border check-posts, creating panic among the local villagers.
Dariyappa Maali, a resident of Telasanga, said there were four pregnant women among them and the villagers made immediate arrangements to provide them food. The local villagers gave them food on Monday night and again breakfast, lunch and dinner on Tuesday.
“On Tuesday, we alerted the local authorities about their arrival,” said Maali.
“We had asked the workers to stay on the ground till additional tahsildar and taluk health workers visit the spot and do a medical check-up,” said Maali.
However, on Tuesday night, when the local people left the place, the workers escaped through the agricultural fields. Vijayapura is just 5 km away from Telasanga, said Maali. Several others like them are escaping police surveillance and this has caused panic in border villages, he added.
Talking to TOI, deputy commissioner, Belagavi, S B Bommanahalli said he was not aware of the incident but would ask the police to launch a search. Those arriving at border areas of the state have to undergo institutional quarantine and hence it is important that all those entering the border should be checked.
Athani tahsildar Dundappa Komar said these workers entered through Belagavi without passes.