There are around 1,000 migrant workers in various camps set up across Belagavi district, officials said here on Tuesday. Deputy Commissioner S.B. Bommanahalli told district in-charge Minister Jagadish Shettar that they had all undergone preliminary tests and none of them had shown any COVID-19 symptoms.
They include those who were stopped by officials while they were trying to cross the district on foot. Some workers from North India who were working in various establishments in the district are also part of the group.
They are housed in government hostels, residential schools, community halls and other facilities in Belagavi, Bailhongal, Hukkeri and Kittur. In Belagavi, the migrants are housed in Social Welfare Department hostels at Nehru Nagar.
However, there are some issues that officials are grappling with. Officials are supplying them rice bath but the workers are not used to eating it. Some of them told the officials who visited them to see that they get rotis and sabzi and not rice items. The district administration officials, however, said that this demand is difficult to fulfil.
However, migrants from Goa and Maharashtra are walking to their destinations and passing through villages in Belagavi district. They are being offered food and water by villagers and police officers in some places. It is difficult to keep track of all of them, said a senior officer.
