1. Coronavirus Lockdown: Allow Us to Go Home, Beg Migrant Labourers as State Govt Locks Door
There was fear and anxiety while migrant workers lined up at police stations in Bengaluru to register for trains without knowing that the state government had cancelled the facility in lockdown 3.0.
Migrants continued to stream into the railway station at Majestic, Bangalore International Exhibition Centre and even the bus station hoping for some travel arrangement. Many who were aware of the government web portal, stood in front of the BBMP ward office or police stations for enrollment.
At the Majestic railway station, a group of labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand had come together only to be told that there was no train. “Now, I do not want food. I do not want the job or money. I can’t get stuck here.I want to go home,” Mahendra, a labourer from Jharkhand, said.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
2. Karnataka COVID-19 Tracker: 20 People Test Positive; State Tally Reaches 693
With 20 more positive COVID-19 cases reported in Karnataka on 6 May, the total number of cases in the state have gone upto 693.
According to the state Health Department, "Till date 693 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed. This inclludes 29 deaths and 354 discharges.”
Among the new cases, 12 were reported from Badami in Bagalkote and three were from Dakshin Kannada.
(Source: Bangalore Mirror)
3. NIMHANS Finds a Way to Reach Out to Its Patients
Owing to the uncertainty as to when the lockdown will end, the National Intitute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), has started Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) for patients who have previously received treatment at the institute.
“We are not sure when we can fully resume our OPD services. But insead of remaining inactive, we have started the IVRS sercives for patients who are already registered and are taking treatment from our hospital. Starting from Wednesday, the IVRS number 080-26992699 will be made active,” Professor BN Gangadhar, director of Nimhans, told Bangalore Mirror.
(Source: Bangalore Mirror)
4. Coronavirus Lockdown: Bengaluru's Namma Metro Workers Get Raw Deal
After there were protests at the Bommanahalli casting yard by workers of the URC, a company contracted by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, Deccan Herrald visited three labour colonies that house more than a thousand labourers.
Fear loomed on the faces of these workers, more than hundred of whom were crammed in a single room in a building in Singasandra.
After NGO Maara reported of widespread violation of labour rights, workers were told not to speak.
(Source: Deccan Herald)
5. No Change in Power Bills, BESCOM Clarifies After Residents Question Higher Charges
The Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) began issuing bills this week after a month-long gap, but city residents immediately began to question whether their electricity bills had been inflated.
However, this is not the case. Due to the lockdown, officials could not take metre readings in the month of April, and bills were generated based on the average electricity usage of the customer for the previous three months.
For the bill in May, residents would have had to pay for the usage in March and April (since metre readings resumed). For residents who paid the April bill (the average amount calculated average of past three months) online through the BESCOM website or other payment portals, the same has been adjusted in the May billing cycle.
(Source: The News Minute)
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