Migrant, family survive only on water for 3 days
Ashish Vishwakarma, a carpenter who lived with his family in Nallasopara and worked at Vidyavihar, had been out of work since March 22 because of the lockdown
A migrant worker, his wife and their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter travelled from Mumbai to the village of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh (UP), surviving on nothing but water.
Ashish Vishwakarma, a carpenter who lived with his family in Nallasopara and worked at Vidyavihar, had been out of work since March 22 because of the lockdown. With most of their neighbours returning to their villages, the Vishwakarmas decided to do the same. For Rs 6,000 he got a place on a truck for himself and his family, to make the journey to UP. He was told there would be 35 others in the truck, but ultimately, there were about 50 people. “The truck was to leave at night. Then there were rumours that they have found Covid-positive patients in my area so the truck left in a hurry in the afternoon,” Vishwakarma said.
They left Mumbai on May 10 and in the rush, the Vishwakarmas were not able to organise any food for themselves. All the hotels along the way were shut and the family survived on only water for the duration of the journey. “We had some powdered milk for our daughter. We needed clean water to mix that also. She cried a lot all the way as it was unbearably hot,” he said.
They reached Jaunpur on May 14.
At present, the Vishwarmas are staying in a field adjacent to their house, to distance themselves from the rest of the family, which includes Vishwakarma’s two-and-a-half-year-old son who has been living in Jaunpur with his grandparents. In the village, the family is surviving on food they’d bought earlier. “We haven’t been buying vegetables. We don’t have any farmland in the village,” said Vishwakarma, who hopes to return to Mumbai once regular train services become operational. He said he has seen two to four trucks with migrants arrive in Jaunpur each day.
