UP CM blasts officials for spraying disinfectant on workers, warns them

Terming the hosing down of home-bound migrants with a chlorine solution in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district "rude and indecent", Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed officials on Tuesday to initiate strict action against the guilty, a senior state government official said.

The incident, caught on video and shared on social media, took place at Bareilly's Satellite bus station on Sunday.

A state government official has argued that such spraying of people is permitted internationally. But the authorities did not follow the right procedure, he said.

However, a fire brigade official said the migrants were sprayed with a solution containing sodium hypochlorite. It is often used to keep swimming pools sanitised.

On Tuesday, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi told reporters, "The Uttar Pradesh chief minister has termed the incident as 'ashisth' (rude) and 'abhadra' (indecent). He instructed that actions should be initiated against the guilty persons, and said that such acts should not be repeated."

The clip showed several migrants squatting on the ground as men in protective suits hosed them down. Someone is heard telling people to shut their eyes as the spraying begins. Several people in the group, which included women and children, complained of a burning sensation in the eyes.

Chief Fire Officer C M Sharma said on Monday that spraying the group of migrants with sodium hypochlorite was necessary for "disinfecting". He said there was a burning sensation in the eyes for "two or three seconds, but it didn't harm them".

As a row erupted over the incident, District magistrate Nitish Kumar blamed it on "overzealous" civic body personnel and said action is being taken against them. Those affected were seen by the chief medical officer, he said.