Coronavirus lockdown woes | 57 migrant labourers forced to huddle inside truck

One such truck carrying migrant labourers was found carrying 57 migrant labourers (women and children included) to their natives. The truck driver had reportedly charged each rider Rs 3,000 for the same and wanted to pack in more passengers.

Moneycontrol News

May 12, 2020 / 21:49 IST

Migrant workers travel in crowded buses as they return to their villages. The Uttar Pradesh government on March 28 arranged over 1,000 buses for the workers returning to the state. (Image: Reuters)

Ever since a lockdown was announced in the country to curb the incidence of novel coronavirus cases, there have been several reports of migrant workers taking long journeys back home afoot. After the Centre’s nod allowing inter-state movement of stranded labourers, those who remained started leaving cities in hordes, commuting in any and all modes of transport at their disposal.

Hundreds of migrant workers have similarly been trying to move out of India’s financial capital Mumbai also, a city that has registered maximum coronavirus cases in the entire country. On May 12 itself, hundreds of migrant labourers were leaving for their natives in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh from Thane region.

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An NDTV report states that their ordeal does not end here. To begin with, they wait for hours at a stretch on Maharashtra’s Mumbai-Nashik highway, hoping to board a truck that would take them home. These trucks are almost always tightly packed despite strict social distancing orders to avoid contracting the deadly disease.

One such truck that had stopped on the highway to pick up passengers earlier this morning, was reportedly carrying 57 migrant labourers (women and children included). The truck driver wanted to accommodate more passengers after charging Rs 3,000 from each rider already, that too when most of them did not even have a place to sit. Additionally, more than a dozen had climbed to the roof of the truck.

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