The High Court of Kerala has directed the District Collector, Thrissur to convene a meeting with the representative of the owners of lodges which have been converted into quarantine centres to consider the grievances raised by them.
The single Judge bench headed by Justice Gopinath P was hearing a batch of petitions where it has been informed that a large number of hotels and lodges in the temple town of Guruvayoor have been requisitioned by the District Administration, Thrissur for housing those persons who are required to be quarantined.
The petitioners have submitted that housing of such a large number of people in the town would result in extreme hardship and difficulty not only to the individual owners of lodges and hotels, but also to general population in Guruvayoor.
The petitioners have also alleged that there is no proper protocol for managing the situation where a large number of people are being brought and left without any effective protocol.
However the Counsel appearing for the District Administration submitted that “there is a proper protocol being followed and the persons to be quarantined will be lodged in the hotels and lodges in question only in accordance with such protocol.”
The bench observed that one of the reason for objections was the presence of a large number of senior citizens in Guruvayoor and since the lodges and hotels are bunched so close to each other, it would be necessary to determine the number of persons who could be safely quarantined in each of these facilities.
The counsel appearing for the District administration informed the bench that the District Collector was willing to convene a meeting tomorrow on May 14 at 12 pm.
The matter has been listed for next hearing on May 15.
Read the Order Here;
WPC9803_9921202013052020-India Legal Bureau