The 21-day coronavirus lockdown entered its fourth day on Saturday. While cities and towns across the country wore a deserted look, migrant workers, stranded hundreds of kilometres away from their native land, were seen taking desperate measures to make their way home.
On Saturday, hundreds of migrant workers continued their march into the state of Uttar Pradesh from Delhi-UP border.
The UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) continued to ferry scores of migrant workers to their destinations from different border areas of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar.
Till March 27 midnight, about 96 buses were already sent with the migrants while more are still being arranged to help them reach their destinations.
{{/usCountry}}Till March 27 midnight, about 96 buses were already sent with the migrants while more are still being arranged to help them reach their destinations.
{{/usCountry}}The buses have been dispatched with migrant workers to areas like Lucknow, Etawah, Bareilly, Etah, Aligarh and Gorakhpur among other areas in Uttar Pradesh.
Migrant workers were seen scurrying around the bus depots, hopping on to the vehicles in desperation to reach home. Many were seen travelling on top of the buses as the vehicles jam-packed within minutes.
Regional manager of UPSRTC told Hindustan Times that buses from ISBT Kaushambi are being dispatched.
Ghaziabad’s Lal Kuan intersection is another point from where the buses were being dispatched. The administration is working to dispatch more buses from other depots.
The movement of migrant workers started on March 24 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus outbreak.
The lockdown entered its fourth day on Saturday and will last till April 14. The number of coronavirus cases in the country on Saturday jumped to 873, as per the data released by the health ministry. As many as 19 Covid-19 patients have died from the infection in India.