The JSW steel plant in Bellary district is turning out to be a coronavirus cluster as till date more than 100 people have tested Covid-19 positive, including the employees and their family members.

On June 11, the company wrote to the Bellary District Collector that it is taking precautionary measures at the plant’s premises. In the first week of June, one employee in the plant had tested positive after returning from Tamil Nadu and subsequently, over a course of one week, over 100 people tested positive from the JSW steel plant.

The plant has now reduced its work force to 1/3rd of its actual number.

Bellary district in-charge minister Anand Singh said, “We have discussed this issue with the Jindal Group also. They told us that they are working towards shutting down the plant as much as possible. There are certain boilers in the factory which can’t be shut and for that they said they’ll work with minimum work force and enforce social distancing.”

In the letter to DC, the JSW group said it has asked the employees to be under home quarantine and will only allow them to resume work after a thorough medical check.