By Anurjay Dhal
RAJKANIKA/KENDRAPARA (ODISHA): BJP National VP-Spokesperson and 4th times former MP, Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda was on Saturday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for her Government’s irresponsibility towards COVID-19 outbreak, which put neighbouring Odisha in hurry.
The hard-hitting statement of the senior BJP leader came following large scale COVID-19 positive cases reported in Odisha’s 3 districts of Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore ,were West Bengal returnees. The senior BJP leader has been time and again requesting Odisha Government to strictly monitor bordering areas with West Bengal but the nothing has happened and Mamata Banerjee too keeps continuing mum, sources said.
The former MP Panda, in a statement released on Saturday in Bhubaneswar, 120 km from here, said Odisha had done relatively well because of its early and strict lockdown. But West Bengal has been just the opposite, with complete laxity by the authorities. There are reports of a very large number of infections in the state which are not being reported.
“Around 10 days ago, there started appearing alarming reports of a large number of people coming back to Odisha from West Bengal with many being Corona positive. I had then made a demand for the border to be sealed. Although Odisha has taken steps on this, the fact is that large numbers of people have already come in,” the senior BJP leader said.
“This has been corroborated by a recent sharp spike in positive cases being detected in three northern Odisha districts bordering West Bengal. Odisha’s Chief Minister has also acknowledged this and made a public statement. Despite India’s overall remarkable performance in managing this pandemic, one or two non-compliant states can cause havoc to many others. Every possible action must be taken to control this new risk,” he added.
Meanwhile, with fresh cases of COVID-19 positive from Jajpur, Odisha’s tally reached at 157 out of which 55 cured and 1 died so far while active cases stand at 100. Jajpur alone reported 48 and crossed its tally to Bhubaneswar which reported 47.
Of the 157 patients, 100 are still afflicted with the disease while 55 have recovered and one has died, they said.47 of the 156 cases have been reported in Bhubaneswar, followed by 48 in Jajpur, 19 each in Bhadrak and Balasore, 10 in Sundargarh, 02 each in Kendrapara and Kalahandi and 01 each in Cuttack, Puri, Dhenkanal, Koraput, Jharsuguda, Deogarh, Keonjhar Districts and Balangir 2, officials say.
The districts which have so far been affected were Khurda (47), Jajpur (45), Balaosre (20), Bhadrak (19), Sundergarh (10), Bolangir, Kendrapara and Kalahandi (2 each), and one each in Cuttack, Puri, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Deogarh and Jhsrsuguda.
Though West Bengal returnees have so far spread the disease in Odisha, two persons from Bolangir having returned from Tamil Nadu Friday tested positive.The buses will be allowed entry into Odisha in 11 different points in 11 points at Birmitrapur (Sundargarh), Champua (Keonjhar), Chandili (Koraput), Girisola (Ganjam), Jamsola (Mayurbhanj), Kerada (Rayagada), Khariar Road (Nuapada), Laxmannath (Balasore), Luhurachati (Bargarh), Motu (Malkangiri) and Sunki (Koraput).
