Tanda: The Tanda district authorities here in Uttar Pradesh refuted charges of five Tablighi Jamaat attendees, who have been isolated over the fear of coronavirus, that food and water were not being provided to them.
According to reports, the isolated persons also comprise of Jamatis who attended a religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi, which has now emerged as the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak in India, with over 1,000 cases directly linked to the event.
Speaking to the ETV Bharat on the issue, Tanda SDM Gaurav Kumar said the charges were baseless as the authorities were supplying food to them but they requested for home-cooked food, which, he said, was allowed in lines with the government guidelines and quarantine advisory.
"We would provide them with the food that is served in the hospital, but then they asked for permission to get it from their homes as they had desired to have non-vegetarian meals. We allowed them, and now they are alleging that they were not being given food," he said, adding that it was "wrong".
On being told that they had also accused that not even drinking water was being made available to them, he said it was not true. Out of the total 16 people isolated here, five of them attended the Tablighi Jamaat event.
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At least 9,000 people participated in the religious congregation in Nizamuddin last month, after which many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.
Action against foreign Tablighi Jamaat members was taken after over 2,300 activists, including 250 foreigners, were found to be living at its headquarters in Nizamuddin West last week, despite the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to check the spread of the coronavirus.
