Another fishing boat carrying 42 migrant workers from Chennai reached Odisha’s Ganjam district on Monday night.
This is the fourth motorboat carrying migrants from Chennai to Ganjam since April 25. To dodge the lockdown, the workers had opted for the dangerous journey without any navigation equipment.
Ironically, a special train carrying migrant workers from Tamil Nadu also reached Jagannathpur station in Ganjam on Monday.
The 42 migrants, who are from traditional fishing families, had together contributed ₹1.8 lakh to buy the boat, which set out from Chennai on May 6.
Thirty-three of its passengers were from Markandi panchayat while the rest were from other coastal areas of Ganjam district. The district administration, which had information about the voyage, made arrangements to receive them.
Berhampur Sub-Collector Shinde Dattatreya Bhausaheb said they would be sent to institutional quarantine after a check-up.
At the wee hours of April 28, a fishing boat with 33 migrant workers from Chennai had reached Aryapalli on the Ganjam district coast. On April 27, a motorboat carrying 25 workers from Chennai reached Rameyapatna in Ganjam district. On the evening of April 25, a boat carrying 38 migrant workers from Chennai had reached Patisunapur of the district.
All these returnees through the sea route are now in institutional quarantine.
