Bengal Cops Stop 11 Migrant Workers , trudge 500km to Murshidabad

Painful Lockdown for Migrants

Ranaghat , TOI Report : India;s coronavirus outbreak and the ongoing lockdown to contain the pandemic , has shone a spotlight on the hard life of its seasonal migrants. According to TOI report , a group of 11 migrants workers from West Bengal who had walked more than 500 km from Odisha was stopped by Police at Haringhata in Nadia district, around 200 km from their homes in Murshidabad and Birbhum districts.

Engaged as construction workers at Badalpur in Puri district , the 11 had begun their painful journey on April 11 and crossed into Bengal on Monday. They had hit NH 34 for the last lap when police at Mohonpur investigation centre on the highway detained them for flouting the lockdown.

Doctors from nearby Haringhata hospital hospital examined the migrants, none of whom showed clinical symptoms of Covid-19.

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They were served food and allowed to rest on the premises of the Mohonpur centre. The district authorities have promised to arrange for transport to take them home .

The daily wage labourers , six from Murshidabad and 5 from Birbhum , said during the initial couple of weeks of lockdown , they stayed at their respective constructions site camps, but decided to walk home once they began running out of money.

Construction projects stopped once the lockdown was announced and we had no income. With time , we are low on cash and decided to go home. We wore masks and started walking on April 11. On the way, we met migrant fgroups from Mednapore and other Bengal districts too

Raju Mondal of Murshidabad’s Jangipur

We walked through days and even nights. When we felt tied , we rested on the roadside. With almost no cash in hand, we are very little on the way – mostly puffed rice and biscuits

Mehdi Hassan of Birbhum;s Muraroi

However , Ranaghat SP VSR Anantnag said “The adminsitrationb told the workers they need not walk the rest of the journey . Transport will be arranged to take them home “

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