Migrants fall from Ganga bridge in Amroha, one dead, another injured

Migrant workers have been trying to cross Ganga river to enter Uttar Pradesh

One of the two migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh, who fell from a bridge over the Ganga at Amroha-Hapur border on Tuesday, died and the other is critical.

Migrant labourers have been involved in tragedies including accidents during the lockdown leading to loss of lives(HT Photo/Ajay Agarwal/Representative use)

Sanjeev Kumar from Mohaddinpur village of Shahjahanpur and his companion Pyarelaal from Samaspur village of Bareilly were rushed to the Meerut medical college where Sanjeev died during the treatment. Pyarelaal is currently battling for his life.

Both the migrant labourers worked in Delhi and were returning to their native places along with their family members in a shared taxi. The incident took place when hundreds of labourers coming from Delhi and Haryana swarmed the Ganga Bridge. The crowd swelled as the police had barricaded the road preventing their entry into Amroha’s Gajraula. This led to a jam.

Eyewitnesses said the police resorted to a mild force to restore order which resulted in a melee on the bridge following which the two labourers jumped into the river. They fell on one of the pillars of the bridge instead of landing in water.

The police, however, denied using force to disperse the crowd on the bridge.

For Coronavirus Live Updates

Amroha superintendent of police Vipin Tada said, “There was no stampede on the bridge. During the investigation, we found that they were trying to jump from one bridge to the other running parallel and fell down. Their family members did not know of the accident. They had reached their destination when we contacted them. The victim’s body was handed over to his relatives after the postmortem.”

The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19

Following several such incidents of migrant labourers trying to enter the state by crossing river Ganga, the local administration has deployed police on the river’s banks and its tributaries and canals to keep migrants from entering without proper registration.

According to officials, registration of incoming migrant labourers is mandatory along with screening and subsequent quarantine.

A large number of migrant labourers have been entering UP from Uttarakhand and Haryana while on the way to their native places in eastern UP and Bihar.