A group of Covid-19 patients blocked a national highway connecting Digha to Nandakumar in East Midnapore on Tuesday to protest lack of proper infrastructure and poor quality of food at a private hospital in Contai, where the district authorities had got them admitted.

NH116B, a road frequented by tourists from Calcutta to Digha, remained blocked for around 12 hours before police could convince the agitators to return to the hospital.

“We have been forced to take this drastic step. We have requested the hospital authorities to improve their standards time and again, but in vain,” one of the agitators said.

This 32-year-old youth has been admitted to this hospital along with his mother, who had also tested positive for coronavirus, for the past five days.

“My father is in home isolation. My mother and I have to depend on the food the hospital provides. But the food here is inedible and insufficient,” he added.

Another agitator, around 45, said most patients were finding it difficult to survive on the little quantity of food.

“We get puffed rice and grams for breakfast. In case we are given an egg toast, there is no egg in it. In lunch there is half a piece of fish and a small portion of rice. There is no provision of any food in the evening. For dinner, there is only rice and egg curry. The quality of rice is unthinkably bad,” this person said.

A medical officer from one of the health centres in Midnapore was also admitted to this hospital. This person also complained of unhygienic toilets and poor quality of food. “They are not even providing warm water that Covid patients need to gurgle,” the person said.

Samudra Sengupta, the deputy chief medical officer of health in Nandigram, accepted that living conditions were poor in this facility.

“Though the doctors and other medical staff are being provided by the government, food and patient care is the hospital’s responsibility. We have handed show-cause notices to the authorities,” Sengupta said.

Three Covid-19 hospitals have been set up in the East Midnapore district — at Panshkura, Chandipur and Contai. Though all of these facilities are private, maximum allegations and complaints have come against the hospital in Contai.

At least half of the 43 patients admitted to this 100 bedded hospital participated in the road blockade.

Ferry service from Diamond Harbour resumes

The ferry service between Diamond Harbour in South 24-Parganas and Haldia’s Kukrahati resumed on Tuesday after over five months Telegraph picture

Diamond Harbour subdivisional officer Debamoy Chatterjee flagged off the service at Diamond Harbour on Tuesday. The launch service between the two destination had been stopped in March after the jetty at Diamond Harbour had been damaged. Although the jetty was repaired later, the service couldn’t resume because the lockdown had been imposed by then.

The jetty at Kukrahati was damaged when Cyclone Amphan had hit the state in May. The jetty was repaired and after the introduction of Unlock, the service was ready for resumption.

On Tuesday, the state government allotted three vessels that would ply between the two destinations. When the service was stopped, people were being forced to take a detour of 160km by road whereas hardly 40 minutes are needed to reach either side by river. The distance between the two places is only 20km across the Hooghly. Officials said the new ferry service was faster and would take only 30 minutes to cover 20km.