Migration continues from ISBT in Kaushambi

Ghaziabad: Migrant workers continued to pour into the Interstate Bus Terminal at Kaushambi for the second day on Tuesday

Ghaziabad: Migrant workers continued to pour into the Interstate Bus Terminal at Kaushambi for the second day on Tuesday. However, the number of passengers heading to their hometowns was less on Tuesday.

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Officials of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) said that on Monday they despatched 1,187 buses with full occupancy while they despatched 797 another buses till evening on Tuesday. The officials estimated that they ferried about 60,000 passengers on Monday.

The migrants have started to arrive at ISBT, Kaushambi, in large numbers after the six-day curfew was announced on Monday by the Delhi government. On Tuesday, they continued coming in groups throughout the day.

“I work at a bakery in Paschim Vihar in Delhi and its owner asked us to leave as the shop was closed down due to restrictions. Remembering the ordeal we faced last year during the lockdown, we are heading home in Uttarakhand,” said Bhawani Dutt, a native of Champawat in Uttarakhand.

Last year when the large-scale migration of workers started in March, the UPSRTC had to close down the ISBT at Kaushambi and shifted operations to Lal Kuan due to overcrowding. This time, the workers said that bus operation was regular, and buses were available.

The officials of UPSRTC said that the occupancy in their 52-seater buses was over 100% on Monday and it was about 85-90% on Tuesday. “The crowd was less in comparison to Monday and we despatched a total of 701 buses from Kaushambi, 67 from Anand Vihar and 29 from Kashmere Gate on Tuesday. On Monday, 974 were despatched from Kaushambi, 181 from Anand Vihar and 32 from Kashmere Gate. We still have about 250-300 buses to cater to them. The priority is to ferry them safely to their destinations,” said AK Singh, regional manager of UPSRTC.

Not only from Delhi, but migrants also left Ghaziabad for their hometowns in UP.

“We engage in work of plastering of ceiling and earn ₹600 per day. Ever since the weekend curfew was announced in UP, our work also stopped. Last year I had to borrow money by pledging a part of my land at home. My colleagues left yesterday and now four of us leaving today due to uncertainty over the lockdown,” said Mohit Kumar, a native of Basti district in UP who stays with his colleagues at a rented room in Vijay Nagar, Ghaziabad.