[ad_1]
Blockade: The truck with 57 immigrants stopped after it had traveled from Mumbai to Thane.
Mumbai
On the Mumbai-Nashik highway in Maharashtra, a truck full of men, women and children waits and waits. In the blazing 40-degree heat, it’s been five hours. Migrants head to Uttar Pradesh, distressed by the coronavirus blockade, eager to get home somehow.
The truck, which was carrying 57 migrants, stopped at around 9 a.m., having traveled from Mumbai to Thane, apparently because the driver was waiting for more passengers.
He is charging Rs 3,000 for each driver, so the more he can put in his vehicle, the better.
There is no space in the back of their truck, where most migrants are standing, and will remain standing during the journey. More than a dozen have climbed onto the roof.
“The driver wants to continue the trip, but the owner of his truck asks him to wait for more passengers,” said an older man.
When it was pointed out that there was no space, the driver reportedly replied, “It is not your business how I get people in.”
The driver, they allege, also threatened to overturn the truck. The driver denied the charge.
Migrants leave cities like Mumbai in hordes on whatever means of transportation they can find. This morning hundreds of migrant workers were seen leaving Thane to go to states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
Asif Patwari, a construction worker who went home on foot, said: “I come from Alibaug and want to get to Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. I will never go back to Mumbai. I have no money and I have lost my home.”
Across the country, migrants who were left without jobs or homes in the states where they work have been traveling since India entered a total blockade in late March. They have been walking, cycling and hitching on trucks, tempos and auto-rickshaws in sheer desperation. Several migrants have lost their lives due to exhaustion, illness or traffic accidents.
.
[ad_2]
