Citizen groups, trusts help daily wagers, migrant workers

Over the last two days, street dwellers, daily wage workers and those from other cities stranded near Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), after the trains services were

Over the last two days, street dwellers, daily wage workers and those from other cities stranded near Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), after the trains services were cancelled, are being provided with food packets twice a day by Gokul Braj Foundation and Kurla and Tilak Nagar Railway Protection Force (RPF).

HT Image

The food packets consist of khichdi, pulav or biryani. Over 100 to 125 people are being served every day, and the group intends to continue providing the service for as long as possible.

“We have collected some funds. Also, people individually are helping out in whatever way they can, monetarily or otherwise. We have eight-10 volunteers who facilitate the distribution below the LTT bridge,” said an official from Kurla RPF.

Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust (SSGTT), distributed food packets to the constables and BMC workers who are managing the lockdown situation. “We are also conducting a blood donation drive, as the state is currently falling short of blood. Over 100 people have already registered themselves through our helpline. We will be taking a van to their societies to collect the blood,” said Aadesh Bandekar, chairman of Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust (SSGTT).

Similarly, Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Mumbai, popularly known as Dadar Gurudwara, which the apex body of gurudwaras in Mumbai, has received a request from three hospitals in the city, to provide two meals a day to the relatives of patients present in the hospital.

Manmohan Singh, general secretary of Sri Guru Singh Sabha, said that they have provided masks and are helping the disaster management cell of BMC. “We are planning to provide meals for daily wage labourers, but we need to figure out the centre. In these hospitals, we will have to reach out to around 1,000 people, but then social distancing will be an issue, so the hospitals will have to look into the distribution,” said Singh.