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Over 600 migrant workers leave for their homes in western UP
Gurugram:
Gurugram:
More than 600 migrant workers, who were staying at different shelter homes in the city due to the lockdown, left for their home districts in western Uttar Pradesh on Sunday morning aboard 19 buses arranged by the Haryana government.
The migrant workers were stopped by the police in the last week of March, while they were walking to their hometowns in UP, on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, NH-8 and along the Delhi-Jaipur railway line, said a spokesperson for the district administration.
Anu Sheokand, general manager, Haryana Roadways, said that these workers left for UP around 6.30am on Sunday. “We had received directions from head office in Chandigarh that arrangements had to be made for transport of these migrant workers to their state. Nineteen buses were made available to the district administration. It was ensured that all norms of social distancing were followed while sending them,” she said.
The 634 workers, who left from Gurugram, are from Shamli, Mathura, Baghpat, Bulandshahr and Saharanpur districts of western UP, the spokesperson said, adding that they boarded Haryana Roadways buses that would drop them in their respective districts.
According to the officials, some workers from Uttarakhand and Punjab stuck in Faridabad were also sent through the state-run buses from there. Around 950 workers, including 634, were lodged at shelter homes set up in the two cities.
The remaining workers will continue to stay in the shelter homes as they have been living and working in the city for the past several years and went there due to lack of food or money, the spokesperson added.
Naveen Dahiya, MCG councillor from ward number 12, who worked with the district administration in repatriation of stuck workers, said that 47 migrant workers had been found walking on the railway line around March 20 and were brought to community centres at Dhanwapur and Basai.
“These workers were kept in quarantine. We made food and other essential items available to them. Today, they were able to get a bus to reach their villages in other states,” he said.
Prior to their journey, a health check-up of these workers was done at the shelter homes and it was ensured that none of them suffered from any flu-like illness. Temperature of the workers was also checked and they were asked to wear masks compulsorily, said Dahiya.
The migrants, who boarded the buses, also heaved a sigh of relief as most of them were short on money, and wanted to go back to their homes.
Ali Jaan, who worked as plumber in Gurugram, lost his job during the lockdown period. He, along with his friends, decided to walk from Gurugram till Allahabad on March 28 only to be found by the Gurugram police who brought him to a shelter home in Sector 31.
“I was crying in my rented accommodation as there was no food. Then I, along with friends, decided to walk down to my native place with no money in my pocket, but the police personnel brought us to a shelter home in Sector 31,” said Jaan.
The 20-year-old said that he only wanted to reach home and didn’t think that he would ever come back. “My mother started crying when I had called her. I only want to be with my family,” added Jaan.
Like Jaan, Asgar Ali, who stayed in Badshahpur, said that he could finally get a bus home. “I was determined to go back home after the lockdown period. Had the authorities not provided the bus service, I would have walked all the way till Allahabad,” said Ali.
