Kakinada: 103 migrant labourers stopped, quarantined

Kakinada: Migrant labourers belonging to various districts and other states are in a quandary as they are unable to reach their native places after being stuck in quarantine without job or cash in hand. They are urging officials to send them to their native places. As many as 103 migrant workers have been caught at Tuni while they were travelling in three trucks on Friday. Seven infants and equal number of girls aged between seven and eight years were among those detained at Tuni.

According to the sources, these migrant people belong to various districts like Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam and East Godavari. They had gone to Nellore, Prakasam, Kadapa, Hyderabad and other districts for earning a livelihood.

However, in the wake of corona pandemic, lockdown was enforced leaving the migrant workers jobless and no money in hand. With no option left, the labourers started to return to their native places on foot.

When they reached Vijayawada, all the migrant labourers struck a deal with three lorry drivers to reach to their destinations. While some of the workers got down at Jaggampet in East Godavari district and went to their native places, the others were caught by police during checking and were disembarked. East Godavari collector D Muralidhar Reddy rushed to the spot and enquired about their travelling history. The migrant labourers appealed to the collector to allow them to continue with their journey to their native places.

According to sources, Muralidhar Reddy held talks with collectors of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram for sending them to their native places, but they did not agree with the proposal. Peddapuram revenue divisional officer (RDO) S Mallibabu moved all the migrant workers to quarantine centre at Annavaram Lord Sri Satyanarayana Murthy Devasthanam halls.

The officials have supplied masks, toothpastes, soaps, sanitisers and other essentials to them and explained the precautionary measures against the spread of coronavirus.

One of the detained migrant workers, Mallibabu, said that the infants and minor girls and boys were being served milk and bread and all of them were being served breakfast, meals and others. He said that they have to stay at the quarantine centres for 14 days. If the state government gives permission, they may be allowed to go to their destinations after taking all precautionary steps.

Meanwhile, nearly 4,000 migrant workers from other states, who entered East Godavari, were left stranded after the police and task forces stopped them. These migrants were working in Telangana and AP states, but after lockdown they decided to return to their native places in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and other states.

On Friday, nearly 70 pilgrims belonging to Karapa, Gurajanapalli and other villages in East Godavari were detained while they were returning from Varanasi and sent to 14-day quarantine, while they were returning to their homes.

They were stranded in Varanasi due to lockdown, but after the intervention of BJP Rajya Sabha member G V L Narasimha Rao, the UP government arranged special buses to take them to their destinations.

However, when they reached East Godavari, the officials stopped them stating that they would be allowed to reach to their homes only after completing 14-day quarantine period.