THEY TRAVELLED OVER 100 KM ON FOOT TO REACH HERE

LUCKNOW: Two youths arrived here from Ara town, headquarter of Bhojpur district, Bihar. The belonged to Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh and run a garment shop there.

Gulshan Rathore, 25, and Shekhar Rathore, 26, reached Buxar bypass from Ara on foot covering roughly 105 km. From Buxar, they reached Ballia taking lifts and walking for most part.

From Ballia, they reached Jaunpur and joined others from Shamli –Ankur, Sawant and Praveen, who are also into garment business.

“We all belong to Shamli district and are into garment business. We were mentally prepared to remain indoor at our rented accommodation (in Ara) till April 14,” said Gulshan Rathore.

“But when rumours started spreading that the lockdown will continue for longer period, I decided to leave. Two of us left Ara and joined others in Jaunpur,” added Gulshan.

All of them boarded a bus for Bareli hoping to get some conveyance from there for Shamli.

Shashank Maurya, aged around 35, who works in a garment unit in Gandhi Nagar, New Delhi, reached Lucknow on Sunday morning along with four others.

They belong to Bansgaon tehsil of Gorakhpur district.

“After the lockdown, our employer bluntly told us to leave for hometown. With no work and no wages we decided it was better to face the ordeal in a journey for home than staying back in Delhi,” said Maurya.

Almost every migrant worker had a bitter tale to share about the journey from New Delhi.