4 migrants crushed to death while walking back to Raj
800 migrants from Bengal are stuck in Maha as state has sealed borders
The issue of migrant population, which is trying to go back to their native places after losing livelihood because of coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra, has reached a critical state.
Migrants, most of whom worked as daily wage workers in metros of Maharashtra, are taking all the risks in search of shelter. Four such migrants met a tragic end when they were crushed to death by a speeding tempo in the wee hours of Saturday while walking back to their villages in Rajasthan. The accident took place on MumbaiAhmedabad highway in Palghar. The tempo driver, who fled from the spot after the accident, was later arrested by the Virar police.
The deceased, identified as Kaluram Bagore (18), Nikhil Pandya (32), Ramesh Mangilal Bhat
(55) and Naresh Kalasuva
(18) were migrant workers and natives of Rajasthan.
The officials said that the victims were along with three others who have sustained injuries in the accident that took place at around 3 am on Saturday.
“While they were walking, the tempo came at a high speed and knocked the group. Four of them came under the rear wheels of the tempo, which killed them instantly. The accused tempo driver fled from the scene soon after,” said an officer of Palghar police station.
Upon investigation, the police learnt that the group was part of a larger mass who were stopped at the Gujarat border and were sent back to Mumbai.
The incident took place enroute their walk towards the city. Nearly
800 migrants from Bengal are stuck in Maharashtra as the state government has sealed the borders to prevent the spread of the virus.
The issue of plight of migrants from Bengal was taken up by Trinamul Congress MP Derek O’Brien who discussed the matter with Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray. Though the latter expressed the inability to send back the migrants, he assured the Bengal MP that they will be taken care by his government.
Mr Thackeray tweeted, “I received a call from @derekobrienmp with a message from Bengal CM @Mamataofficial ji. About 800 labour stuck in Maharashtra. Of course we can’t let them go back as state borders are sealed, but we reached out and are taking care of them. (sic)”
Meanwhile, expressing concern for the migrant workers, film actress Pooja Bhatt has appealed to Aaditya to convert stadiums and studios in the state into refugee centres.
In her tweet, Ms Bhatt said, “Dear Mr Aditya Thackeray, may I request you that the studio and stadium in Maharashtra be converted into shelter homes. (sic)”
She wrote another tweet saying, “Here we are distributing packets to the homeless? What would it be like if stadiums and similar places were opened to give shelter to those migrant workers? People’s health can be monitored. If they show any symptoms then they can be contacted.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of migrants of UP living in Maharashtra had called Uttar Pradesh nodal officer in the state. They said that they want to go back to their village as they cannot live here without employment. Officials said that they are trying to convince them that they will have to abide by the government advisory to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Maharashtra BJP secretary Sanjay Upadhyay said, “We are coming up with local kitchen for the daily wage workers, including migrants of UP, Bihar and rest of the country. We have established food and vegetable distribution networks across the state by following the government advisory such as social distancing. The PM and BJP president has given target to reach out up to 52 lakh people with ready food packets or food grains.”
Over 57-lakh north Indians especially from UP are residing in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and an additional eight lakh people live in remaining parts of Maharashtra. Of these, around 10 lakh migrants are daily wage workers, according to an estimate.
Most of these people are working for construction sector, plying taxi, autorickshaw, selling vegetables, fruits and milk. However, there are only ten to 12 thousand people are actually in crises.
After outbreak of Coronavirus, the UP government directed Bimlesh Kumar to work, as resident Commissioner of UP in Mumbai with immediate effect. The migrants can call on 02227811861,
9137452238, 9702901598 and
9821058315 to file their grievances during the lockdown.
Mr. Kumar said, “We are working with the local administration and Maharashtra government to resolve the problems of migrants. We have arranged the foods and accommodation for them.”
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari directed the government to stop people from entering the state from other parts of the country or vice versa during the ongoing lockdown. He also directed collectors to inform the people about the steps taken for their accommodation and food by the government and non-governmental organisations.
He held talks with the six divisional commissioners in the state- Nagpur, Amravati, Nashik, Pune, Konkan and Aurangabadvia video-conferencing to take stock of the impact. He asked the authorities to make announcements in all major cities and industrial townships to urge the people to stay wherever they are right now.