Nearly 550 migrants from Noida sent back to Uttarakhand in 3 days

The decision to arrange transport and send back the stranded migrant workers is in compliance of an Uttar Pradesh government order, District Information Officer Rakesh Chauhan said.

Nearly 550 migrant workers have been sent back to their home state Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar in the last three days, officials said on Wednesday.

Several hundred migrants queue to board a bus arranged by the administration at Botanical Garden metro station, Noida, India, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. (Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

Over the last few weeks, thousands of migrant workers stranded due to the coronavirus lockdown have been sent to their homes in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, among other places, from Gautam Buddh Nagar adjoining Delhi, the officials said.

The decision to arrange transport and send back the stranded migrant workers is in compliance of an Uttar Pradesh government order, District Information Officer Rakesh Chauhan said.

“On Tuesday, 409 migrants embarked on journey to their homes in Uttarakhand on 12 buses. The buses were stationed at Greater Noida and in Noida. Earlier on May 24, 140 migrants returned to Uttarakhand on board six buses,” he said.

The process was overseen by District Magistrate Suhas L Y, Police Commissioner Alok Singh and officer in-charge for COVID-19 response in Gautam Buddh Nagar Narendra Bhooshan, Chauhan said.

Additional District Magistrate Diwakar Singh said all buses were sanitised and the passengers were given seats in compliance with the social distancing norms.

“The passengers were screened for their fitness by the health department teams before they were allowed to board the buses for the hill state,” he added.

Thousands of migrant workers and daily wage earners in Noida and Greater Noida were rendered jobless ever since the lockdown came into force to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission.

Gautam Buddh Nagar district in western Uttar Pradesh has recorded 366 positive cases of coronavirus, including five deaths, till Wednesday, according to official figures.