Lockdown fear sees labourers take trains, buses out of Pune back to hometowns

Pune – The fear amongst workers and labourers has increased that the state government is planning to impose a strict lockdown soon

Pune – The fear amongst workers and labourers has increased that the state government is planning to impose a strict lockdown soon.

HT Image

There has been massive rush seen at the Pune railway station and also at private luxury bus depots in and around Pune over the last few days.

Mostly these labourers come from North India and in last few days there has been a drastic increase in the number of passengers going towards North India from Pune railway station.

Several migrant workers who had returned to Pune at construction sites have now again started going back to their villages. It is the same with small scale industries in and around Pune, where labour fears lockdown and are going back to their hometowns.

“Me and my family are returning back to Bihar by railways, as there might be a lockdown in Maharashtra and we do not want to suffer like last year. So I booked tickets for my family and am now returning back,” said Gayaram Pande, a labour contractor traveling from the Pune railway station on Sunday.

Another worker Mahesh Sitane said, “I am working in a small factory in the Chakan area, but as there are new restrictions in Pune, no work orders were coming. So our owner stopped work at the factory from the last one week, and now we do not know when it will open. I am planning to return back to Karnataka and have booked a private tourist bus ticket for Tuesday night.”

Talking about the passengers travelling towards North India, Manoj Jhawar, Pune railway division spokesperson, said, “We have given additional special trains to Bhagalpur and Danapur cities in Bihar. As there is a heavy rush of passengers going towards North India, these new special trains are been given by the Railways. In last couple of weeks there has been a considerable increase in the number of daily passengers travelling by various trains from Pune towards North India.”

“These special trains are fully reserved and advance reservation is necessary for passengers. People with confirmed tickets only can travel and they are requested to follow all the Covid norms and safety precautions while travelling,” he added.

Both the trains, Pune – Bhagalpur special train (train no. 01427) and Pune-Danapur Special Train (train no. 01429) will depart from Pune on April 12, 16 and 20.

Sagar Abnawe, owner of Mahalaxmi tours and travels said, “We are getting bookings mostly for out of Maharashtra cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Indore and some cities in Gujarat. People want to go out of the state, maybe it is because of the lockdown fear.”