分类： bharat

Soaked in sweat and with not an extra inch to reposition themselves, a group of around 40 to 45 migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, huddled together in a truck, were on their way to their native place when the Navi Mumbai Police intercepted their vehicle on Friday night.

A young mother of two, tugging her one-year-old tightly to her chest did not know how will they manage to travel 1,700 km to their native in Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh which by road on a vehicle could take anywhere between five-six days.

Many of these migrants had collected their life savings of around Rs 3,000 to 5,000 and handed it over to the truck driver who had promised them to take them to their villages. Some of them had even borrowed money so they could pay up the amount.

Nand Kumar had just arrived in Mumbai to make a living and started working in a textile unit a fortnight before the lockdown due to coronavirus was announced.

He was also in the group of migrant workers duped by the trucker waiting on the roadside while his wife with her year-old infant was still inside the truck’s container.

Speaking to India Today TV team, he said “I arrived in Mumbai just a fortnight before the lockdown was announced and had been working in the textile unit. Due to the lockdown, we don’t have any work or money so, we decided to leave in this truck going to Siddharthnagar.”

He added, “I paid Rs 6,000 to the truck driver for the journey. I was forced to leave as I had no money left with me and had to borrow this money so that I could leave for my native place. We had registered [for Shramik special trains] but it was taking very long and I had no clue when we will be allowed to travel so we decided to go in this truck. I paid him Rs 6,000 and Rs 1,000 was to be paid after reaching Siddharthnagar.”

Unable to cope with no wages, hunger, and uncertainty amid the coronavirus crisis which has affected over 56,000 people in India, there are hundreds and thousands of migrants like Nand Kumar who can be seen walking towards the Mumbai-Agra highway, trying to make it to their respective villages, some as far as 1,800 km.

The group of migrants on the truck were fleeing from Mumbai, the same city to which they had come a few months ago to eke out a living.

With no other option in sight, no assurance even after registering for Shramik special trains operated by the Indian Railways to ferry the migrants to their native places, these workers opted for the option in front of them, a truck where they were put up in the container like a flock of sheep.

Santosh Kumar, who was going to Azamgarh in the truck and had paid Rs 7,000 for two persons, spoke to India Today TV and said, “The vehicle belongs to one Pramod Jadhav and is from Digha village in Navi Mumbai. I work as a driver and had heard from some other drivers about the truck going to UP so I tried contacting them. This vehicle was going to Siddharthnagar and I had to go to my native place is Azamgarh. I have paid Rs 7,000 to the driver”.

In a tragedy that highlights the plight of thousands of jobless labourers stuck in other states due by the coronavirus lockdown and walking long distances back to their native states, 16 migrant workers were killed after a goods train ran over a group of migrants who fell asleep on the rail tracks on Friday in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.

The Aurangabad incident was reported at around 5:22 am on Friday morning. The migrant labourers were on their way to their native places in Madhya Pradesh and had fell asleep on the railway tracks after an overnight walk from Jalna, about 40 kilometres from the site of the incident.

A video clip from the incident site showed bodies of the migrants on the railway tracks and their personal belongings scattered around. The victims were aged between 20 and 35 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the death of 16 migrant.

The health ministry, in their routine daily briefings on coronavirus in the country, said that at least 216 districts in India have not reported any Covid-19 case till date. In the last 24 hours, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agrawal said, 3,390 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported.

Besides, 1,273 coronavirus patients have recovered. The recovery percentage is now 29.36 per cent, the health ministry said. Till now, 16,540 patients have been cured and 37,916 patients are under active medical supervision. In total, India’s coronavirus count has mounted to 56,342.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus positive cases in Maharashtra — the worst-affected state in the country — reached 19,063, with 1,089 more people reporting positive on Friday. Thirty-seven people have died in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the state to 731, said the Maharashtra Health Department.

India is facing the worst wave of coronavirus outbreak as cases spiked sharply over the past few weeks. Positive Covid-19 cases in the country crossed 50,000-mark after the Union Health Ministry updated fresh data on its website on Thursday; the death toll has also crossed 1,700. India, one of the four worst-affected countries in Asia, is worried about the exponential rise of cases in urban areas and a high fatality rate in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal. The fact that it is spreading quickly among frontline workers including cops has also become a matter of concern. Fearing further spike in cases, state authorities are swiftly taking precautionary measures ahead of the arrival of migrants and non-residents next week. Globally, the situation remains grim as the US remains the worst affected country with over 70,000 deaths. In a first, the country also recorded the death of a detained immigrant who had tested positive for the virus. Follow IndiaToday.in for all the latest updates on Covid-19: