[1]Owing it the preceding announcing of the lockdown, left many migrant workers jobless, without food and water. As the pandemic outbreak looms over at every individual, it’s been a crisis.
[2]The magnitude of massive migrants labourers evicted led to the abrupt displacing them as Pandemic crisis rattled the conscience of the nation
[3] Hunting scenes of individuals who opposed the law preserving workplaces, keeping secure removal from each other and not swarming at transport and train stations and attempting to travel hundreds of kilometres in the absence of any transport is attributed to regulatory inadequacies
[4]It’s been a chaos since the lockdown has begun pandemonium under the lives of these all poor people.
[5]But besides this, it was first time ever that there was a protest of the migrant labourers in Mumbai, first time also in history, where After Prime Minister NarendraModi announced the extension of the national lockdown to 3 May following the coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai, at least thousands of migrant workers gathered outside the Outside Bandra West Railway Station in violation of the lockdown standards and seeking to leave for their native places.
[6]When on Tuesday 14th April, PM Narendramodi declared another 21 days extension of Lockdown; it was main objective to contain the spread of Novel coronavirus which had claimed at least many lives.
Later, on Tuesday hundreds of these migrant workers had clustered in a group and gathered outside in Mumbai’s Bandra Railway Station and on the suburb streets of Mumbai. Bestowing the facts, actually the migrant labourers started to gather at the bus station near Bandra Railway station prompting Mumbai police to rush to the spot.
Even according to Bandra Police, these migrant workers begin to gather outside Jama Masjid Bandra station about 4 P.M., as the police came into the picture, the crowd of these migrant labourers had already begun to swell despite police presence.
[7]These people were mostly comprised work from other states, as gather begin to swell more. Nevertheless, the reasons & purpose which was presented by these labourers was that they felt train would start from April 14 and they can go back home, as these were assumptions from the government that someone , must have put in their minds, as they are discussion with centre to help the migrant labourers to go back to their homes.
[8]But the actual person who was behind inciting the labourers, the accused who had provoked and incited these migrant labourers to protest by posting messages on his social media accounts which was major reason and led to the gathering of these migrant labourers in huge numbers outside the Bandra Station on 14th April Tuesday.
[9]He demanded that the Maharashtra government make travel arrangements for these migrant labourers who were stranded and deserted because of the COVID-19 enforced and imposed Lockdown and want to go back to their respective homes.
[10]On the other hand, he was arrested by the Mumbai police in the early hours if Wednesday , he was questioned over his social media post and was booked under the section of 117 , 153A,188,269 ,270 and 505(2) of the IPC and section 3 of the Epidemic Disease act.
[11]The condition has been intensified which encapsulates the cruel dilemma that these migrant labourers across India face today, at the hands of a government that left them in destitute in the midst of the poorly planned and imposed lockdown.
Nevertheless, it was the first time in Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra that they had spotted and eye witnessed such unrest type of protest during the on-going virus outbreak.
[12]These migrant workers were spotted outside the Bandra station, expecting to have some kind of normal services to go back to their respective towns or states.
In addition to this, the police had gathered to disperse the group; the crowd was later dispersed following the deployment of extra force to contain the situation.
[13]It escalated to prompting the police to allow baton charges to clear and disperse the chaos of their gathering. This migrant labourer had mostly and generally comes from the state of Bihar and U.P.
They had received at the station, assuming that normal train services will resume on Tuesday at the end of 21 days nationwide lockdown.
[14]PM, furthermore –indeed declared another set of extension until 3 may to cater and contain the scatter and spread of the novel COVID-19 through the lockdown.
“Besides, this the current same problem at Bandra station , now dispersed but even the rioting in Surat in a result of the Union Government not being able, take a call on arranging a way back home for migrant labourers. They don’t want food or shelter, they want to go back to their homes,Thackrey said”.
Most of the migrant workers are distressed by the turmoil, and the disruption was uncertain because of the lockdown that was first enforced on 25 March and expected to return to their home.This was the first time unrest had been witnessed in Mumbai and Maharashtra during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The policemen wielding batons could be seen trying to reason with the workers that lockdown has not been lifted and the COVID-19 pandemic still a serious concern policed had to resort to use of force to disperse the force.
Where flocks of migrant labourers gathered outside the railway station, hoping to go home as they had no jobs, no money and no source of food. Daily wage earners, numbering around 1,000, assembled at suburban Bandra (West) bus depot near the railway station and squatted on road at around 3 pm.
The lockdown had lunch over thousand. This was uncertainty which has caused deepened panic and chaos in the lives of poor.
Nonetheless, these are the haunting pictures and in state of solitude of these thousands of helpless migrants pouring out on the streets of Bandra should be cause for an alarm.
This is uncertain over their future in Lockdown cities, caravan of migrant labourers have been walking hundreds of kilometres along highways and across shuttered. Cities running out of food amid the nationwide Lockdown disruption in supply chain since the 21 days announcement of Lockdown.
IN MY POINT OF PERSPECTIVE
According to my insights and outlooks, the government should have taken any kind of measures to curb such situation, nevertheless when they were announcing the Lockdown before that they could have made some arrangements.
They should have set up some kind of shelter with food and water , to combat their insecurities, they could have also made some special arrangements by managing some special buses and trains to return them back to their homes.
The government should take amid measures to actually curb this situation. They should have prepared with some kind of support and have proper measures to ensure the financial aid to the wage workers or either for at least 24 hours have started the train services so they could reach back to their natives places.
Rising food scarcity is a major immediate concern. One immediate measure that state governments can and should take is to provide all such women-headed households with free food rations to prevent hunger amongst them.
This step should also be taken by other states; it should be brought back to their state of origin to plan and prepare measures to bring labourers and workers working in different states.
The state government to curb the mass migration they could bear the expenses of migrant workers stranded in the state. They should be provided with some kind of ration with basic necessities.
They should be having the access to the hospitals if any emergency occurs.
It is the responsibility of the state to support and assist these Migrant workers. However, the even after knowing the plights and sufferings of these migrant labourers, they should be the first concern as they are backbone of the country, working unceasingly day and night.
They should be provided with proper shelter, homes, in a good visible area where all can fit. They should be provided with food and water with basic necessities.
The authorities and both governments could have taken an initiative of at least transporting back these migrant labourers back to their homes.
When the Thackarey government along with centre government had declared the nationwide Lockdown extension. at least they could have pre planned while Making arrangements for these stranded labourers by providing them with some shelter , along with some financial aid .
The states could have use the disaster relief fund of their state to provide the relief and accommodation
Thackarey could have made arrangements in advance to in case of stranding between two states in isolated regions or bored row. They should be saved and taken instantly, and transferred to their host places where they could be founded shelters or their hometowns. They should be given access to their Rs. 1000 accounts every week, along with some Rs.10, 000 cash per month.
With this India’s efforts to control and combat the spreading of this Novel CO COVID-19 have fallen into disarray as thousands of these migrant labourers have started flouting the Lockdown rules to migrate back to their home states, fearing starvation following the imposition of this complete Lockdown .
Article Written By-Sakshi Mehta
[1] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/mumbai-migrant-crisis-how-the-chaos-unfolded-at-bandra-station-timeline-1666978-2020-04-14
[2] https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/migrant-crisis-man-arrested-for-inciting-labourers-to-protest-in-mumbai-1667211-2020-04-15
[3] https://scroll.in/article/961041/i-cant-even-express-my-anger-confusion-reigns-as-migrant-workers-in-mumbai-struggle-to-get-home
[4] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/thousands-of-migrant-labourers-assemble-outside-mumbai-station-hoping-to-reach-homes-11586872359803.html
[5] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/don-t-fall-prey-to-rumours-kejriwal-asks-migrant-workers-after-bandra-incident-11586879497494.html
[6] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/indian-railways-denies-rumours-of-running-special-train-services-11586889622567.html
[7] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/migrants-get-desperate-as-lockdown-extension-looms-11586547747996.html
[8] https://qz.com/india/1839990/indias-coronavirus-lockdown-leaves-its-poor-in-the-lurch/
[9] https://www.ndtv.com/mumbai-news/coronaviru-update-migrants-in-mumbai-stuck-between-hunger-and-covid-19-seek-to-go-home-2213448
[10] https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/coronavirus-migrant-workers-protest-outside-bandra-railway-station-demand-help-to-return-home/article31341724.ece
[11] https://theworldnews.net/in-news/coronavirus-migrant-workers-protest-outside-bandra-railway-station
[12] https://indianexpress.com/article/india/maharashtra-government-bandra-migrants-protest-coronavirus-lockdown-6365334/
[13] https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/social-distancing-goes-for-toss-in-bandra-homesick-migrants-protest/story-s2IZyeWZ3yGqIoRgBAjRRJ.html
[14] https://thewire.in/labour/mumbai-bandra-migrant-covid-19
