On cycle to meet sick father, Rajouri man may be quarantined
JAMMU: The UT administration is in a quandary over the arrival of a Rajouri resident from Mumbai, who is currently pedalling his way home to meet his ailing father.
Senior officials believe that coming from Maharashtra makes him a potential case of coronavirus and 14-day quarantine would be essential upon entry.
Mohammad Arif, who works as a security guard at Libra Tower in Mumbai’s Bandra West, left the city on Thursday with all but ₹600 for the gruelling journey on a decrepit bicycle he bought from a friend to meet his bedridden father. He said he decided to embark on the 2,100-km travel after he received a call about his dad’s ill health on Tuesday.
When asked about the probable course of action upon Arif’s arrival, deputy magistrates of Kathua – the gateway to J&K – and Rajouri, OP Bhagat and Mohammad Nazir Sheikh, cited the strict guidelines in place to check the community transmission of Covid-19.
Bhagatsaid,“Whenhereaches here, Arif will be quarantined for 14 days at Lakhanpur. Administratively speaking, there is no space for emotions. We pray for his father’s speedy recovery. God forbid he doesn’t make it, one life would be lost, but if Arif is infected, letting him go to Rajouri would prove fatal for several others. We are already in the community transmission stage and can’t take risk.”
Bhagat’s counterpart Sheikh said, “We are trying to locate him, but his phone is switched off. We will take up the matter with the Kathua administration and the higher authorities. But even if he is allowed to head to Rajouri, he will first be quarantined here for 14 days,” said Sheikh. Meanwhile, a senior bureaucrat in the administration opined that the case should be handled with sensitivity. “We will try to send him till Rajouri (from Lakhanpur) if things are in control. He can be quarantined there. We will take a call on his arrival,” he said.