Ganjam dist natives begin to return home

BERHAMPUR: Panic gripped residents of Ganjam on Saturday as migrant workers started returning to the district from Covid hotspots like Surat in Gujarat. Around 500 migrant workers arrived here on Friday in the Okha-Puri Express.
This despite the district administration requesting those outside the state to avoid coming back in the wake of the fresh resurgence in cases.
Most of the returnees said they came to their villages to participate in festivals like Danda Nata and Tara Tarini, which will start on Tuesday.
A 30-year old from Polasara, who has come with his friends, said, “Once the festivities are over, we will go back to Surat, preferably in the third week of April.”
Last year, he and his flock had returned to their villages after the declaration of the nationwide lockdown and following the shutting down of the textile mills in Surat. “We had gone to Surat about five months ago,” he said.