Crowds of migrant labourers at railway station as lockdown looms

As the Maharashtra cabinet urged chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to impose a lockdown in the state, hundreds of workers marched towards the Pune railway station and various bus depots in the city to return to hometowns

As the Maharashtra cabinet urged chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to impose a lockdown in the state, hundreds of workers marched towards the Pune railway station and various bus depots in the city to return to hometowns.

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At the Pune railway junction, long queues were witnessed by 8 pm on Tuesday, as migrants scrambled to board trains to leave for their native places.

Many did not have advanced bookings, though workers hoped they would still be able to board the train.

“I came here to go back to Lucknow as there will be complete lockdown in the state. My employer has already told me that our factory will be shut for next few days,” said Vijay Luhar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, working in Bhosari.

The police and railway staff were struggling to keep order as the long queues grew by 9 pm, the departure time for a train for UP.

Following the state cabinet meeting, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) also cut the timings for essential commodity shops to remain open, to between 7am and 11 am, from the earlier 7am to 6 pm.

The smaller construction sites with no labour camps have stopped, leading to loss of employment. “I was working at a construction site in Ambegaon. However, since the past four days, the site has stopped. So I am returning to Uttar Pradesh,” said another worker, refusing to answer when he will be back.