A lawyer’s letter to Telangana High Court Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan over precautions to check spread of coronavirus at Paddy Procurement Centres (PPCs) across the State has been taken up as a PIL petition.
Lawyer J. Venudhar Reddy, in his letter, stated that nearly four lakh people would be assembling at nearly 4,000 PPCs in the State for the next few weeks. He sought a direction to State government to supply sanitisers, masks and other protective gear to all people gathering at the PPCs.
He said that government is duty bound to supply the protective gear as it had opened the PPCs all over the State to purchase paddy from the farming community. There is likelihood of the virus spreading its tentacles if farmers, workers and others assembling at these centres are not supplied with masks and sanitisers.
Observing that it was a matter of urgent importance, the lawyer said the government had failed to supply any such gear so far. Citing his personal experience, the lawyer from Kannekal village of Madugulapalli mandal of Nalgonda district said he had harvested paddy from his fields on April 6.
Two days later, he went to the PPC run by Indira Kranthi Patham. To be purchased, the paddy had to be dried to comply with the required moisture levels before being filled in gunny bags. This process requires a couple of days. The lawyer said that he had to be at the PPC for three days for that purpose.
On an average, nearly 100 persons, including farmers and workers, move in the vicinity of the PPC. They all have to move in close proximity and chances of contracting virus is higher. None of them was seen wearing masks or using sanitisers at the PPC, the lawyer said.
The PIL is likely to be heard by the court in a day or two.
