Odisha: Migrants travel on trailer truck packed with tractors to reach home amid lockdown

Amid fourth phase of nationwide lockdown induced to contain spread of coronavirus infection, about 200 migrant workers were seen traveling in a trailer truck packed with tractors on National Highway-16 in Cuttack. migrants were traveling from different parts of country to ir respective states, flouting social distancing rms.

During journey, most of migrants were seated on tractors, while some were seen lying beneath m. Narrating ir plight one of migrants said y faced a lot of problems because of lockdown and had to survive on water as re was food.

READ | Sonu Sood helps Odisha migrants: CM Naveen Patnaik, Neha Dhupia praise actor's initiative

"We work at a hotel in Maharashtra and we have faced a lot of problems due to lockdown, we didn't get anything to eat and were surviving on water. truck driver is t charging us for ride," said migrant. 

READ | Odisha preps for singing state song at 5.30 pm to show solidarity with Covid warriors

Ar migrant worker who was on his way to Ranchi in Jharkhand said, "I'm coming from Bengaluru, and company I work at is closed for past two months. Traveling like this can be dangerous, but we have to go home. truck driver is taking us for free, and we got food on way."

workers could be seen wearing face masks as a precautionary measure against COVID-19 even as y defied  social distancing rms.

READ | 7 hurt as bus carrying migrants from Kerala to Bengal overturns in Odisha

COVID-19 Cases in Odisha

As many as 96 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Odisha on Saturday, taking state's tally to 1,819, a health department official said. fresh cases were reported from 18 districts and new patients had returned from worst-hit states and were placed under institutional quarantine, he said.

Of new cases, 10 each were reported from Kendrapara and Gajapati districts, nine from Khurda, seven each from Bhadrak, Bolangir and Sundergarh, six each from Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Jajpur, five from Kalahandi, four each from Deogarh, Nuapada and Balasore, two from Dhenkanal and one each from Puri, Nayagarh and Keonjhar.

number of active cases w stands at 833 while 977 patients have recovered. Seven people have died of disease, official said. state has so far tested 1,47,490 samples, of which 3,920 were tested on Friday, he said. districts which have reported more than 100 COVID-19 cases are Ganjam (404), Jajpur (259), Balasore (146), Khurda (122) and Bhadrak (131).

READ | Odisha govt anunces exemption of road tax for passenger buses for three months

(With inputs from ncy)