Days after the Centre imposed a complete nationwide 21-day lockdown in the wake of the highly contagious coronavirus outbreak, thousands of migrants workers in several metro cities rushed to their hometowns.
The lockdown announcement has brought buses, trains and flights to a halt, leaving many stranded in various state, far away from home.
Though the government has urged people to stay indoors and aggressively practice social distancing, scenes of desperate migrant workers fleeing the national capital and other metro cities have been emerging for the last two days.
Huge gathering in Delhi’s #Ghazipur area near Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border as police stopped people from heading to their native places in different districts of UP. #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/MAAQyyFHSZ
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) March 28, 2020
Now, state governments have stepped in to provide transportation to the migrant workers. Around 1,000 buses have been arranged by the UP government to take them to their respective hometowns.
#WATCH Huge gathering at Ghazipur near Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border as people wait to board special buses arranged by UP govt for their native districts in Uttar Pradesh. #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/PgVM6eSank
— ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2020
UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Saturday met nodal officers of all states and asked them to make arrangements for migrants in their respective states.
Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia visited Delhi-UP border, where people have gathered in huge number to board special buses for their homes in Uttar Pradesh. He said, “We have also provided some DTC buses to transport them. I urge people to stay put where they are”.
Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia visits Ghazipur near Delhi-UP where people have gathered in huge number to board special buses for their homes in Uttar Pradesh. “We have also provided some DTC buses to transport them. I urge people to stay put where they are”. #CoronavirusLockdown pic.twitter.com/2L2aAUohws
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) March 28, 2020
However, despite the arrangements being made to transport migrants, many of them still facing hardship to reach their hometowns.
Rajasthan: Migrant workers walking on foot in Jaipur to reach their homes in Uttar Pradesh in absence of transport services due to #CoronavirusLockdown. “I started my journey from Jodhpur & will go to Banda – a distance of over 900 kilometers,” says Amar Singh Yadav, a labourer. pic.twitter.com/PaWLL4zdjS
— ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2020
Besides, the Centre has asked state governments to take steps to prevent a mass exodus of migrant workers. It also asked States/UTs to ensure that adequate support, food and shelter should be provided to migrant agricultural labourers, industrial workers and other unorganised sector workers during the 21-day lockdown.