Covid-19 lockdown: Delhi-UP border sealed, bus operations moved to Ghaziabad
The evacuation of migrant workers from across Delhi and the national capital region (NCR) shifted to Lal Kuan in Ghaziabad from Anand Vihar at the Delhi-UP border, as the mass gathering turned the area into a bottleneck till early Sunday.
Tens of thousands of migrant labourers were sent on their way to their home towns from the Kaushambi bus terminal till Sunday morning, said officials. According to official estimates, about one-and-a-half lakh to two lakh migrants had arrived at the Kaushambi interstate bus terminal (ISBT) on Saturday, in complete violation of the 21-day countrywide lockdown announced on March 24.
The situation improved on Sunday as UP government officials coordinated with their Delhi and Haryana counterparts for the operation. Officials said that the operation of buses was shifted from Kaushambi to the Lal Kuan intersection, which is about 20 kilometres from Kaushambi, on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway.
Hundreds of UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses, along with many of the Haryana Roadways, evacuated the stranded migrants on Sunday. Officials estimated that around 1,500 buses, including the ones from Haryana, were engaged in the operations. “The buses have come to Lal Kuan from Haryana via the Eastern Peripheral Expressway, ferrying passengers free of cost to different cities of Uttar Pradesh. The payment to the Haryana government will be made through the government-to-government transfer of funds. The passengers are not being charged. Since Sunday morning, we stopped the operation of buses from Kaushambi and have also sealed the borders with Delhi,” said Praveen Kumar, inspector general (Meerut range).
However, UPSRTC buses charged its passengers the usual fare. “We hope that ferrying of passengers from Lal Kuan will also be stopped soon, probably in a day or two. Otherwise, more and more people will keep coming,” he said.
The buses from Haryana arrived from depots in Delhi, Sonepat, Panipat, Rohtak, Jind, Palwal and Faridabad, among others, and continued ferrying stranded passengers to UP cities of Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Rampur, Bareilly and Agra, among others.
“Our drivers have come with buses that have diesel tank capacities of 250 and 400 litres. The first set of buses can travel up to 300 kilometres and return, while the other category of buses can go up to 1,000 kilometres and return. Our drivers are not well versed with UP areas and roads, but we are using Google Maps for the purpose. We have been told to ferry passengers for free,” said Krishan Kumar, a driver from the Delhi depot of Haryana Roadways.
By Sunday afternoon, around 35,000-50,000 people had gathered at Lal Kuan, as per official estimates.
The administration and police officials at Lal Kuan also said that they have sealed the Delhi-UP borders as part of the lockdown plan and nodal officers appointed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath have also been in touch with their Delhi counterparts to ensure that mass movement of migrant labourers is stopped.
“We are also trying to despatch the maximum number of migrant workers who have gathered at Lal Kuan. Our officials are in touch with the Delhi government and Delhi Police, making efforts to ensure that people stop arriving at the Anand Vihar ISBT. At present, we are not allowing people into Ghaziabad from the Delhi border, but the number of those still waiting at the Delhi-UP border should not swell. Otherwise, the purpose of sealing the borders gets defeated,” said Prashant Kumar, additional director general (Meerut zone).
The UP CM has appealed to migrant workers to remain at their respective locations and asked states in Delhi-NCR to provide them food and shelter.
