Kolkata: A man in his 60s has quarantined himself in a boat in West Bengal’s Malda district after he was advised isolation by health workers for having come to the area from another district in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Niranjan Haldar, who earns his living singing ‘kirtans’, had come to visit his niece at Dubapara village under Habibpur block five days back.
A resident of Nadia district, Haldar had faced hostile villagers at Dubapara, who demanded he get himself tested for the coronavirus infection.
“They told me to undergo a health check-up as I had come from another place. I underwent a check-up, though I did not have any symptoms like cough or fever,” said Haldar.
Nevertheless, the health workers advised him to remain in home quarantine for 14 days.
This created a problem for Haldar.
There were only two rooms in his niece’s decrepit tin house, where isolation was not possible.
Thereafter, some villagers suggested he could stay in a boat on the bank of river Tangon which flows past the village crematorium.
“Had I gone on quarantine in my niece’s house, they would have had to stay under the open sky for their safety. So, I am staying in the boat. I am cooking my food also,” he said.
However, some locals brought the matter to the notice of the block administration, which is now considering shifting Haldar to a quarantine centre.
