Migrant Exodus 2.0? Huge Crowds at Mumbai, Delhi Railway Stations Amid Lockdown Scare

Amid talks of a complete lockdown in Maharashtra, Mumbai railway station has witnessed a massive passenger rush on outstation trains. Identical situations were also seen in Delhi, Lucknow and other cities.

Published: April 12, 2021 8:25 PM IST

By India.com News Desk | Edited by Sharmita Kar

Migrant workers crowd railway stations amid lockdown fears.
Migrant workers crowd railway stations amid lockdown fears. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Towards the end of April last year, thousands of migrant workers were seen walking hundreds of kilometres to reach their hometowns as the government had declared a nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus. A repeat situation looks like playing out as the country entered the second wave of the pandemic. Amid talks of a complete lockdown in Maharashtra, Mumbai railway station has witnessed a massive passenger rush on outstation trains. Identical situations were also seen in Delhi, Lucknow and other cities.

Lockdown fears and work crisis may be different from how the dynamics were last year when a total clampdown was announced but it is still enough to raise anxieties and panic among the labour class.

Migrant workers leaving for home amid lockdown fears.

Migrant workers leaving for home amid lockdown fears.

A Central Railway staffer deputed at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) told PTI, the station in suburban Mumbai has registered a sharp increase in passengers coming to board trains. “Since the last few days, trains are going full…there has been more rush,” he said.

A huge traffic of motorcycles, black-and-yellow mini trucks and autorickshaws, teeming with migrants, have also been on the rise over the past few days on a bypass road connected from Mumbai to Madhya Pradesh, popularly known as Mumbai-Agra road, eye-witnesses said on Sunday.

Migrant workers spotted at Delhi station

Migrant workers spotted at Delhi station

“The virus outbreak has once again got very severe in Mumbai. There might be a lockdown and it may, like last year, render us jobless. So we have decided to return home,” said 40-year-old Ramsharan Singh, making his way back to Ballia in Uttar Pradesh in an autorickshaw.

However, a senior Railway officer denied the rush being migrant exodus and said the rush for outstation trains going to North India is mainly due to the summer season, when a large number of people visit their native places for marriages and other reasons.

Migrant workers at Lucknow railway station

Migrant workers at Lucknow railway station

Railway administration has attributed the passenger rush, which increased since last week, to the summer season when a large number of people are usually travelling to their native places.

“Panchayat elections are scheduled in Uttar Pradesh and hence many people are going for voting,” he pointed out, adding there may be some migrant labourers among the passengers, but their number is “negligible” as compared to the last year.

India, today, reported the highest single-day number of 1,68,912 coronavirus cases and 904 deaths, taking the total caseload to 1,35,27,717. Maharashtra is the worst-hit state, followed by Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. These six states account for more than 70 per cent of India’s cumulative infections.

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