Nepalese labourers stuck at Anand Vihar amid lockdown
About a dozen-odd Nepalese labourers, including a two-month child, are stuck at Anand Vihar since Monday as there is no public transport to take them back to their country.
Ashmi (22) and her twomonth-old son Aarav, Deepak (22), Vijender Singh (22), Rajender Tara Tamat (26), Adwani Hariwood (30), Naresh (30) and Nayal Singh (38) came to Delhi via train from Bengaluru, while Fhugya Bohara (57), Rakesh Kumar (22), Santosh Pujara (20) Hemant (23) reached here from Mumbai. They could not get any mode of transport to reach their destination, Mahendranagar in Nepal.
“I work in a hotel in Bengaluru and we reached here via train on Monday night, but after that we could not get any bus for Nepal. We are from the same village and do not have food, shelter and money. We were stopped by the police to enter Ghaziabad due to lockdown. We just have biscuits and water to eat and drink. We spent our night on roads. Our life has become miserable. We do not know what to do and how to reach Nepal,” said Vijender. They feel abandoned amid shortages of food and medicines as the entire country was locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We feel helpless as there is no one who listens to us. I could not arrange milk for my child and we do not have money. We ask locals to give us shelter but due to fear of virus no one is willing to take us home. We even ask them to pay money, but they all refused,” said Ashmi who was holding her child.
They even approached their embassy for help and the official concerned asked them to wait for some time. “We contacted the Nepalese embassy here in Delhi for help and they assured us that they will provide best possible help as soon as possible,” said Vijender.