As many as 58 persons from Jagtial, mostly senior citizens, who went on a pilgrimage to Kashi (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh and were stranded there due to the lockdown, were brought back to town on Tuesday after a two-day journey by road.
As soon as they arrived at the district borders in Gandihanumandlu near Ibrahimpatnam mandal, medical authorities screened them through infra-red thermometer and allowed them to enter the district. As the bus reached Hasnabad village in Jagtial, local legislator M. Sanjay Kumar received them by offering buttermilk packets and enquired about their health. Some of the pilgrims were seen shedding tears and heaving a sigh of relief upon their return.
All the pilgrims were sent back to their native villages through ambulances and were advised to remain under home quarantine for 28 days.
It was former Nizamabad MP K. Kavitha who took the initiative to bring back the residents stranded in Kashi and facing umpteen problems due to lockdown. Ms. Kavitha, with the support of Jagtial legislator M. Sanjay Kumar and Minister for Social Welfare Koppula Eshwar, spoke to the authorities in UP and ensured that buses were arranged for the pilgrims’ safe return soon after the Central government announced some relaxations in travel.
The pilgrims said that they had gone to Varanasi on March 11 and had booked return tickets on March 24. However, following the lockdown announcement, they were stranded in the temple town. The UP government arranged their stay in a hotel. They could survive with rice and other essentials supplied by that government, they said.
