People returning home to Orissa for fear of swine flu

People from Orissa working or studying in Maharastra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are returning home after the H1N1 virus set alarm bells ringing.

"We feel Orissa is safer than states like Maharastra. Therefore we have returned home," said a management student who came back from Pune, where the highest number of swine flu deaths have taken place.

"A girl student from Pune with symptoms of the flu was referred to MKCG Medical College and Hospital," said  Ratnakar Behera, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO).

An MBA at the Indira School of Business Studies, Pune, Tushita Rath returned here two days ago, accompanied by another girl from Balasore, after the Maharastra government declared a holiday in educational institutions. Oriya students and labourers working in Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad were also returning.

As many as 5 lakh people from Ganjam district work as labourers in different states. A railway ticket collector here, however, said people returning were comparatively less than in 1992 after the outbreak of plague in Surat.

Health activists have urged the government to put in place a surveillance system at railway stations. "Screening at the railway station is best to prevent spread of virus in the state," said Sudhir Sabat, director of Indian Society of Rural Development (ISRD), a NGO.