E-Paper
Migrant workers prefer trucks to a bus home, refuse to stay at shelter homes
More than 2,000 migrant labourers gathered at Morta near the Delhi-Meerut road on Wednesday morning in a bid to catch a bus home, only to be told by district administration
More than 2,000 migrant labourers gathered at Morta near the Delhi-Meerut road on Wednesday morning in a bid to catch a bus home, only to be told by district administration officials that the buses left a day before. The workers, most of them are natives of Bihar and other districts of Uttar Pradesh, reached Ghaziabad from different parts of Haryana and Delhi after they came to know that some buses would be run for their home towns from Morta.
Though the officials asked the labourers to stay at shelter homes for a few days after which buses would be arranged for them, but they decided to not wait in the city and moved on to the highway to catch a truck.
Pooja, a 23-year-old migrant worker from Gonda district in UP, had arrived with her husband and their one-and-a- half years old child. She said that they came from Mandoli in Delhi and paid Rs 200 each to a truck driver who dropped them to Morta.
“We waited for hours at Morta but there was no bus. Hundreds of workers like us waited along the roadside and in nearby green belts, but we were driven away by the police. Then we decided to walk to our home town. We have hardly Rs 500 left with us. So, we are going to highway to catch a truck,” she said.
Ravi Kumar, who arrived from Jagatpuri in Delhi, said that he would prefer to catch some passing truck.
“Migrant workers were driven away by the police. Even the women and those having children with them were not spared. There were no buses for us. I just have Rs 50 left with me and I decided to travel afoot to my home town. With no buses available, everyone is now trying to catch some truck or any commercial vehicle,” said Ravi, a daily wager who is a native of Madhepura in Bihar.
On Wednesday, several groups of migrant workers were seen sitting along the roadsides at Delhi-Meerut Road, Raj Nagar, Kavi Nagar and other localities near NH-9.
“We came here after knowing that buses were going from Morta in Ghaziabad. It has been three days since I have been walking along with my friend to reach Ghaziabad. Trucks are still our best bet. We will request drivers to drop us midway from where look out for some other truck. We don’t have money to pay for train fare. Besides, many of us don’t even have smartphones so that we can book (online) tickets. I borrowed Rs 1,000 from a friend and came to Morta,” said Monal Kumar Mondol, a native of Bhagalpur in Bihar who worked as daily wager in Panipat, Haryana.
His friend Ranjeet Kumar, who is also a native of Bhagalpur, said that they are now solely dependent on langars and food items which are distributed to them by locals.
Ghaziabad police officials said that some buses left on Tuesday night and took along workers who were present in shelter homes.
“It seems that more and more workers are coming from Delhi and Haryana after coming to know about the operation of buses from Morta. On Wednesday, about two thousand migrants arrived and it led to a huge build-up. So, we had to disperse them but no force was used. There have been strict instructions to our personnel not to misbehave with any migrant worker,” said Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, superintendent of police (rural).
A senior district administration officer said that it’s difficult to communicate with migrant workers stranded in Delhi and Haryana. “They generally come after rumours spread by people in their respective states. We ask the migrant workers who arrive here to stay at our shelter homes. We are facing problems as they prefer travelling by trucks and other commercial vehicles,” the officer said, on condition of anonymity.
“Migrant workers staying at shelter homes are being ferried by buses and they are the ones who are given information about buses. We have about 150-200 buses, which have left Ghaziabad so far in the past one week. One of our shelter homes at Apsara Garden in Morta is vacant as migrant workers are not ready to stay and everyone wants to continue their travel. If they stay, they will be given proper food and lodging,” the official added.
