Hassan district, earlier a green zone with zero cases, has accounted for 30 COVID-19 cases after inter-State travel was allowed. Every case so far recorded here has travel history to Maharashtra.
The administration has made COVID-19 test mandatory for all those returning from Maharashtra. Security at check-posts has been tightened. However, there was a case of a family, which travelled by truck, escaping at the check-post and reaching Alur. They were caught and quarantined later.
The administration has converted government hostels, hotels, and guest houses into quarantine centres. It has taken over guest houses belonging to the Jain Mutt at Shravanabelagola, a prime tourist place, and an agriculture research centre belonging to Agriculture College at Karekere on Hassan-Bengaluru Road. Until Sunday, 1,212 people returned from Maharashtra and over 1,200 people were expected in the next few days. According to the Deputy Commissioner, another 1,200 applications are pending.
People of Channarayapatna taluk have a special connection with Mumbai for four-five decades. During days when there was no irrigation, people moved to the commercial capital in search of jobs. “My father-in-law went to Mumbai about 40 years ago. He got a job and started his own business of preparing snacks. The entire family stays in Mumbai,” said a woman, who has been quarantined with her family.
“A majority of them are working in hotels and roadside canteens with meagre income. They live in slums with no basic facilities. They leave early in the morning and return late. Now they are jobless and have moved back,” said Nagendra, a resident of Shravanabelagola.
Except those with a house and other properties in Mumbai, many are clueless on return to their work in Mumbai. “They went to Mumbai when taking up agriculture was difficult with no irrigation facility. Now, many have returned. Houses are full of relatives. The future is bleak,” said Raghavendra Bekka, a progressive farmer at Bekka near Shravanabelagola.
