Where: Belkuni-Natunpara village, Kalna, East Burdwan

What: On Tuesday, villagers asked three youths who had returned from coronavirus-affected states to get a check-up done. When the trio refused, the villagers sought police help.

Action: Police took the trio to Kalna subdivisional hospital, where they have been kept in an isolation ward. Their family members have been told to stay in home quarantine.

Where: Coach of Chennai-Guwahati Express at Andal railway station

What: Co-passengers found a youth from Suri coughing on Wednesday and informed railway officials.

Action: Doctors boarded the train and took the youth to Asansol hospital. He was released as he had no symptoms of coronavirus.

At a time Bengal is trying to combat the spread of coronavirus, several stories of people rising to the occasion to resist an outbreak are emerging from various rural areas and towns in the south of the state.

A group of residents at Belkuni village in East Burdwan’s Kalna on Wednesday formed a team of six to keep an eye on migrant labourers and guests coming from other states. “We went to the homes of three youths as they had come from corona-affected states of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. We have already identified six more persons who arrived from Uttar Pradesh and requested them not to step outside,” said Bibek Barui, a businessman at Belkuni.

The group was instrumental in alerting police to the arrival of the three youths. The police acted promptly and took the trio to a hospital in Kalna.

“It is a good move to send people who have come from other states for a medical check-up. Though we have kept them in isolation, the three have shown no symptoms of coronavirus. The family members have been requested to stay quarantined,” said Krishna Chandra Garai, the superintendent of the Kalna hospital.

In Arambagh, a youth was sent to the hospital on his return from Mumbai, while a youth from Suri, who was travelling in the Chennai-Guwahati Express along with a group of 35 others, was taken to Asansol hospital on Wednesday when passengers informed railways officials that he was coughing. The youth was coming from Chennai.

At Bhatar in East Burdwan, family members of Dhatripada Kowar, the president of Bhatar Byabasayee Samity who had died on March 6, cancelled Wednesday’s shraddh ceremony where 4,000 people had been invited.

Family members put up flexes to inform the people about the cancellation.

The rituals were, however, conducted in the presence of a small group of family members.

Dhatripada’s grandson, Mahendranath Kowar said: “We just followed the government’s guidelines.”

Additional reporting by Subhasish Chaudhuri