Out of all the cases reported in the district of Ballari, 103 cases have been linked to the Toranagallu-based Jindal Steel plant. This has raised concerns among the factory workers.
JSW plant, run by the Jindal group which is owned by Sajjan Jindal, in Ballari has over 103 cases of COVID-19 positive linked to it. Among the ones who have been tested, there is the staff of the plant, their family members, and the contacts of those. The ones who have been tested positive belong to VV Nagar, Shankargudda Colony, Toranagallu, and Taranagar.
One of them, a 35-year-old worker of the plant had traveled to Ballari from Tamil Nadu. He developed symptoms from his mother who was tested positive in Tamil Nadu. On June 4th, when he approached the fever clinic, he was tested positive and was shifted to the designated hospital. After the district officials got the travel information, rigorous contact tracing began. With that, his family members, co-workers, and the coordinator in the plant, all have tested positive for COVID-19.
Over 10,000 workers quarantined
All those who have been tested positive have been shifted to the designated COVID-19 hospital. Around 420 workers who are marked as primary and secondary contacts have been put in quarantine at the Rock Regency Hotel in Ballari. The cost has been taken care of by the JSW company. The concern, however, is that there are over 30,000 workers at the JSW plant. The state environment and forest minister Anand Singh said,
“We have held discussions with them (JSW). However, some boilers cannot be stopped and they will be maintained by a skeletal staff of the factory. They have said that one-third of the factory’s workers will be reporting to work.”
Over 10,000 workers of the factory have been asked to quarantine themselves as the officials continue to trace the contacts of the positive cases. The panic has been raising in the district as people are asking workers to avoid entering the roads that would lead to the JSW factory. A lot of workers have been quarantined either in their homes or in the factory itself.
Source: The News Minute
