8 migrant workers killed in Chhatisgarh bus accident

The workers were on their way to Surat in Gujarat when a bus carrying about 59 of them collided head-on with a truck at Cherikhedi in Chhattisgarh on Saturday

At least eight migrant workers from Odisha’s Ganjam district on their way to Surat in Gujarat were killed and seven others injured when a bus carrying about 59 of them collided head-on with a truck at Cherikhedi in Chhattisgarh on Saturday.

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Odisha police chief Abhay said he has spoken to his Chhattisgarh counterpart about the accident and added the bus had left for Surat from Ganjam’s Aska area at 12 am on Saturday. He added the injured were being treated at Raipur Medical College and Hospital.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 2 lakh each from his relief fund to the next of the kin of those killed in the accident and free medical treatment to the injured. He sent state labour minister Sushant Singh to Raipur to extend necessary assistance to the victims and asked Abhay to remain in touch with Chhattisgarh police for coordination.

Tens of thousands of migrant workers left jobless by the lockdown imposed to check the Covid-19 pandemic spread returned to Odisha this summer. Ganjam emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot in June and July with the return of over 500,000 migrant workers from Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, and Karnataka.

The migrant workers have begun returning to their places of work with an increase in testing and recoveries.

The state government has tried to offer jobs to migrant workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme but there is hardly any work for skilled workers.

Many textile mill agents from Surat have been camping in Ganjam to take back the migrant workers to Gujarat.