Passengers being stamped with indelible ink upon arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here are complaining of infection and blistering on inner right forearms.
The Odisha government had made it mandatory to stamp returnees upon their arrival in the State in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. The stamp bears the date of arrival.
During the past one week, many people took to social networking sites posting pictures of scalded skin.
“Upon return at Biju Patnaik Airport at Bhubaneswar I was stamped for quarantine. I have an infection with a painful breakout. The ink is of extremely bad quality and does not seem to be made for topical use. Improve this situation, please,” said one Sristi Ray, uploading photograph of her forearm. She had arrived at Bhubaneswar on June 10.
“I am a returnee from Pune, Maharashtra State on June 7 via New Delhi in a connecting flight to Bhubaneswar. In Bhubaneswar airport they marked all the passengers with this stamp. I think the ink contains some acid content which resulted in skin burning after one day,” Prakash, another traveller, said requesting the State government to look into the matter.
Similar complaint was registered by one Rajesh Kumar, who landed in Bhubaneswar on June 5. “I reached Bhubaneswar airport from Bengaluru. As per process they have stamped a quarantine stamp on my right hand. The ink they are using is very harmful, my skin got infected within just 12 hours,” said Mr. Kumar.
To keep a tab on people coming from outside in the wake of the pandemic, Odisha had been stamping people entering the State.
Airport clarifies
The airport authorities said it was the State government which had been putting the stamp on passengers from the first week of May and the airport administration had nothing to do with them.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the nodal agency for stamping the passengers, failed to give any convincing answer.
Issuing instructions to District Collectors on April 29, Panchayati Raj Department Secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh said indelible ink was used usually during elections on any finger on left hand.
“The indelible ink mark is expected to last for three days when applied on skin, but lasts for a few weeks on the fingernail till finger grows out. The indelible ink mark has high alcoholic content and it will dry out immediately. Stamping opposite side of the palm will not last more than 72 hours and the stamping required huge quantity of indelible ink,” Mr. Singh said in a letter.
Subsequently, for obvious reasons, the decision was changed and indelible ink was put on inner side of the right forearm. There had been similar complaints about blisters on forearms from Mayurbhanj district.
Published - June 13, 2020 03:20 am IST
