114 students from Kota reach Rourkela after 50-hr bus ride

Rourkela/Jharsuguda: Altogether 114 students from

Kota

arrived here on Saturday morning after travelling for 50 hours.

While 87 were allowed home quarantine, 27 were sent to government quarantine centres after health check up and sanitisation of their luggage.

“Since the lockdown, we parents have been moving the district administration and lawmakers for permission to get our children back home,” said Anil Kumar Singh, father of a student, adding that each student had to pay Rs 4,000 for the journey.

The children were also panicky as cases were fast rising in Kota and they had been asked to vacate the hostel. Besides students from Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam had already left, said Sunita Pradhan, a student.

“We are very happy on their return that could happen after much deliberation,” said Sharada Nayak, MLA Rourkela.

Similarly, two buses carrying 66 students from Kota will reach Jharsuguda after midnight or early Sunday morning.

“Many hostel owners had asked the children to leave but as our hostel was owned by an Odia, we somehow managed to stay one,” said Luci Sahoo, a student over phone.

The journey was not without hiccups. One of the buses developed technical snag in the Jhalawar highway delaying the journey by four hours. The district administration had to arrange a new bus for them.

Collector (Jharsuguda) Saroj Samal said a 100-bed quarantine facility has been set up in Belpahar. “Parents may stay in the quarantine facility with their children in case the landlords do not allow them or they have limited living space. If they take their wards home, then they will have to follow 14-day quarantine at home,” Samal said.