E-Paper
1.5 lakh stranded migrants transported to their hometowns as Ghaziabad shuts evacuation of workers
Ghaziabad:
Ghaziabad:
An estimated 1.5 lakh stranded migrants were ferried to their respective hometowns in a 36-hour operation started on Saturday morning by the Ghaziabad district administration, in coordination with the state governments of Delhi and Haryana, officials said on Sunday.
By the time Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) issued a notification to completely enforce lockdown and transfer the stranded migrants to nearby quarantine shelters, the Lal Kuan intersection on the Delhi-Meerut expressway wore a deserted look as an estimated 2,500 buses carrying the migrants had already left the place.
After the MHA order on Sunday evening, the Ghaziabad district administration shut down operations from Lal Kuan as well.
“The operations have been stopped from Lal Kuan, and no bus is plying now in compliance of MHA direction. Those who have come here from different parts of Ghaziabad have been asked to go home, while others will be placed in government quarantine facility. At present, we have availability of about 500 quarantine beds and this will be ramped up to 4,000-5,000 bed facilities soon. We have shelter homes of municipal corporation, Ghaziabad development authority and also of other medical, dental and private colleges,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate, Ghaziabad.
He said that after proper counting of passengers at Lal Kuan, they will be taken to the government quarantine facilities as directed.
In its order to ensure effective implementation of the lockdown and to mitigate the hardship of migrant workers, the MHA had rolled out several measures on Sunday evening which prominently included directions that the migrant people who have moved out to reach their homes be kept in the nearest shelter/quarantine facility by the respective governments after proper screening for a minimum period of 14 days as per standard health protocol.
On Sunday morning, the Ghaziabad administration had shut bus operations from Delhi-UP border at Kaushambi near Anand Vihar bus terminal.
On Saturday, there was a massive build up of migrant workers at Delhi-UP border near Anand Vihar. Initially, the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) initiated bus operations from Kaushambi, but on Sunday morning the operations were shifted to Lal Kuan, about 18 kilometres away from Anand Vihar bus terminal.
The Delhi Police said that buses arranged to ferry migrant workers to UP were allowed to ply till 7-8 am on Sunday. “After that, all the interstate and the city’s districts’ borders were sealed to stop people from reaching Anand Vihar bus terminal. All available sneak-in points such as railway tracks were also manned by our police staff. Later, those migrants present on the roads outside the bus terminal were asked to return to their place of stay in Delhi in the buses arranged by the transport department,” said Jasmeet Singh, deputy commissioner of Delhi Police (east).
A senior Delhi Police officer said that those who wanted to reach Lal Kuan were transported in private and Delhi Transport Corporation’s buses arranged for them. “By 3pm, the roads were cleared and thereafter nobody was allowed to cross into Delhi from UP and vice-versa,” the officer added.
Many people reached Lal Kuan on foot. Pradeep Kumar, 25, is specially-abled and walked from Kapashera Border to Kaushambi with the help of his crutches. On late Saturday night, he had to walk further up to Lal Kuan to get a bus to his hometown -- Jhansi.
“For entire Saturday, I walked to Kaushambi but there was a huge crowd. I lost hope that I will be able to get into a bus. Then I and my friends decided to walk to Lal Kuan. We are engaged in stitching work and it has been shut since lockdown. We are returning home as we have no money. We are not worried about Coronavirus as it is mostly related to people who have travelled to foreign countries. But poor people like us are suffering as a result,” he added.
According to official estimates, about 2,500 buses of UPSRTC, Haryana Roadways and private transport firms were roped in to ferry passengers. The Haryana government organised 600 buses on Sunday which ferried passengers free of cost from Lal Kuan. Lots of passengers managed to buy a ride in commercial trucks and tempos.
“The payment to the Haryana government will be made through the government-to-government transfer of funds. The passengers were not charged any fare. Since Sunday morning, we stopped the operation of buses from Kaushambi and also sealed the borders with Delhi,” said Praveen Kumar, inspector general (Meerut range).
However, UPSRTC buses charged its passengers the usual fare.
From Lal Kuan, some buses travelled on GT Road towards areas like Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Kanpur, etc and others through NH-9 to areas like Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Sonauli.
According to officials, the buses for migrant workers from UP dropped them to their respective cities. Most of the buses are carrying passengers to cities within a distance of 250 to 300 kilometres from where their further journey is arranged by depots of other UPSRTC regions.
Similarly, for the migrant workers of Bihar, the buses drop them to nearest border points like Gorakhpur and Sonauli from where they will further continue their journey in Bihar.
Many of the private buses promised to drop passengers for ₹1,600 per person to cities like Gorakhpur (790 kilometres) and ₹900 for a drop till Lucknow (522 km).
“Our officials are in touch with the Delhi government and Delhi Police, and making efforts that no more people arrive in Ghaziabad. We are not allowing people into Ghaziabad from the Delhi border, but the figures of those still waiting at Delhi-UP border should not swell otherwise the purpose of sealing the borders get defeated,” said Prashant Kumar, additional director general of police (Meerut zone).
(With inputs from Karn Pratap Singh)
