Exodus of migrant workers unabated

New Delhi: A day after thousands of migrant workers thronged Anand Vihar bus terminus on the Delhi-UP border to go back to their villages, hundreds attempted to leave again on Sunday but were blocked by police barricades some distance from the bus station.

"I came here in the morning and have been waiting for police to let us go ahead, but it seems like they would not allow us," said Joginder Singh, 40, a fruit merchant who came to Anand Vihar terminus with his family in the morning to catch a bus for his hometown Moradabad.

"They are beating people who try to move further. I am here with my wife and 11-year-old son and we can't afford to be beaten up by police. Now we have only one option -- go back to our home in Shahdara's Vishwas Nagar area," Singh said. Many people were seen trying to walk on the railway track at Anand Vihar to go their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh. Since the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24 to deal with the coronavirus epidemic, all business and economic activity has come to a virtual standstill, leaving migrant workers with no work. Most of them are daily wage earners who live a hand to mouth existence in big cities and cannot afford to pay rent or buy food unless they earn.

However, there is no clarity on how many were actually sent on the buses and how many were dispersed by police. By Sunday morning, the area had been cleared and Delhi police said no transit is being allowed from Anand Vihar bus terminus. Instead barricades were placed on all entry points into the terminus at a distance of about 500 meters. "The situation for the daily labourers like us is becoming worse day by day as we have lost our source of income. We do not have money for rent and food. During the coronavirus, the government is asking people to maintain social distancing. The situation in shelter homes is even more pathetic and we do not want to go there," said Mohammad Imran, 25, a native of Azamgarh in U.P.