With migrants' exodus from Delhi, COVID-19 staring menacingly

Bihar has been exposed to "a potential explosion of COVID-19 in near future with its borders "choking with people" on account of large-scale exodus of migrants from places like Delhi, a key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said here on Sunday.

Sanjay Kumar Jha, who is the minister for water resources and a national general secretary of the JD(U) which is headed by the chief minister, rued that despite having followed "the finest protocols", "COVID-19 stares menacingly at Bihar and the nationwide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi "looks defeated".

The chief minister on Saturday had also disapproved of the move by governments of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to ferry thousands of people from the Delhi-UP border to their places.

In a flurry of tweets, Jha launched a veiled attack on the Arvind Kejriwal government without mentioning the Delhi CM or his Aam Aadmi Party by name saying "those who have driven people away from Delhi are being hailed while those who took care to follow #lockdown21 in letter and spirit are being falsely accused".

In an indirect reference to reports that AAP supporters had allegedly raised an alarm that the lockdown could be extended for months together and got migrants transported to the Delhi-UP border on buses, Jha said, "For some, their narrow priorities and mischievous politics weighed over everything else".

"Suddenly, like in Harry Potter books, lakhs started to flee Delhi and today Bihars borders are choking with people," he lamented.

The mass exodus, he said, has "not only put Bihar in a quandary but also exposed us to a potential explosion of COVID-19 cases in near future, since people on borders insist on going to their respective homes".

He added that on Saturday, the chief minister had spoken to all those who matter in Delhi and apprised them of the impending danger that the mindless yet engineered push from Delhi poses for us all.

"COVID-19 stares at Bihar menacingly!" he tweeted tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"Under CM Sri @NitishKumar Bihar followed finest protocols upon call by PM @narendramodi of a lockdown to combat coronavirus. The norm of social distancing was vigorously followed along with aggressive communication outreach to sensitize people," he said, expressing regret that the efforts could come undone because of the large-scale influx.

"We understand our responsibility towards all people hailing from Bihar," he said adding that a total of 78 Aapada Rahat Kendras (disaster relief camps) have been set up across the state, including along its borders with Nepal and states like UP, West Bengal and Jharkhand, where people were being provided with assistance like food, shelter and medical facilities.

"At the state's borders, people are being quarantined and subject to medical examinations. We are committed to ensuring health and safety of all our citizens," Jha added.