Agony, Hunger & Chaos Faced by Migrants Waiting near Town Hall for Buses to Reach their Hometowns
“My wife was 5-months pregnant when I came here for construction work from Bagalkote. It’s been a month since I have never seen my wife due to lockdown, and since weeks I couldn’t call her due to my mobile phone out of currency. She can’t call me either since she has no money. I am anxious about her health condition, and my pleas to the authorities here to make arrangements for my travel back home proved no luck and more than that they didn’t care either. My employer (builder) also didn’t help when I begged with him for some money. I am left with just Rs 10 in my pocket, and I only wish that I may get a chance on the bus this evening, so I can reach home and be with my family”- Lingegowda, with tears in his eyes.
“My brother and I worked for a builder who was constructing a complex, but when the lockdown clicked in, he kicked us out and put us both on the streets, with no money, and food. For nearly a month now, we have been avoiding the cops, since we didn’t want to get picked up by them and lodge us along with beggars and homeless people in the hostel. We have been spending days and nights in old bus-shelters or shops in the alleys. We never expected our lives to be in such a condition. Only if there was transportation, we would have gone back to our native place in Bellary”– Ramesh
” I got elderly sick parents back home in Sullia, and I used to go back home every weekend to see them. But with lockdown, I was helpless, and I have never seen them for weeks. I’m worried about their health, because both are diabetic, with severe symptoms. I once tried asking the driver of a vegetable truck to reach me home, and he demanded 1000 rupees- but even though I was offering him Rs 600 what I had, he wouldn’t agree. My only way to reach home is today by KSRTC buses arranged by the dist admin if I am lucky enough since for the last two days I have been coming here to Town Hall, to catch a ride, but all in vain”- Danu Poojary
Mangaluru: These three are among the many other stories Team Mangalorean gathered from a bunch of stranded migrants near Town Hall this morning (28 April) around 11 am in the blazing hot sun, waiting for hope and luck to catch their respective buses to their hometowns. The scene was terrible and chaotic, with hundreds of labourers/migrants, both men and women, many of them with their tiny children, all in agony and hunger, and looking forward to a chance to get on the bus and reach their respective hometowns, with their loved ones. Looking at the pathetic and distressful situation of these people, one would ask, “Why did the concerned authorities of the district admin show such negligence and with no sympathies to these migrants for almost a month, and now trying to send them back after they had faced all the hardships and misery”. Bah humbug!
With hundreds of these migrants who have stormed near the Town Hall and in the nearby vicinity, there was 100% no social distancing, and hardly anyone wore face masks, including the children. The safety guidelines of COVID-19 was totally neglected, and the cops standing nearby didn’t do anything to advise them, instead kept staring at them. It’s also strange to note that how did the police at the various check posts allowed such a large number of migrants to walk by, when there was a lockdown, and also that social distancing was in force. Such migration and also of the mass labourers may undermine attempts by the district administration and other departments to prevent the localized spread of the coronavirus, with some workers even attempting to make the journey on foot, due to widespread closures of public transport.
But with industries/factories/labour work/etc. closed by the government lockdown, many have been left with little choice but to attempt the return journey home. Take the example of Ramesh and his colleagues who were daily wage labourers, working at construction sites. When the work stopped due to lockdown- they managed to stay here and there for a day, and today when they heard that many of their natives travelled back home yesterday on few KSRTC buses, they came walking from Surathkal, hoping to find a ride home this evening or tonight. There was sadness and worry on their faces, something they might have never thought would come their way. But the lockdown and the strict guidelines had ruined their lives.
This is not the fault of these migrants nor labourers- it was due to the sudden lockdown they had to face all these inconveniences, so why the govt and the administration made them suffer all these days when they have their homes in nearby places? Govt and other departments should have made the provisions earlier to make them reach home, if they were closer to Mangaluru, rather than make them wait and suffer until now. It’s sad to watch the faces of the women and children who are anxiously waiting to go home- and many of them had already started cursing those who put them in such situation when they had done nothing wrong.
In conclusion, looking at the pathetic condition and situation faced by these migrants and labourers, the district administration, dept of labour and MCC should have worked out a better plan few days after the lockdown kicked in. After doing a thorough screening of all these people, they should have transported them to their native places, which are closer to Mangaluru, or in the state, and not make them wait and suffer all these days. But as they say “Better Late Than Never”, hope these distressed migrants will find HOPE/LUCK in getting into the buses which will take them to their respective hometowns, and be with their loved ones, which they have been waiting for so long.
Sad but True! While many of the migrants have been still kept under like “House Arrest’, in a few hostels/govt schools etc even though they are not CRIMINALS, but had all come to Mangaluru to earn a living, but unexpectedly landed into such tragic life due to lockdown. A sad situation indeed, which was totally neglected and not planned well by the concerned authorities, until now!