1,500 km, 6 days and ₹15K fare, but migrants undeterred
PRAYAGRAJ:It’s about 1,500 km distance, six-day-long journey and costs Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 fare, but desperation to reach home is making migrant workers living in Mumbai to hire auto-rickshaws and taxis to reach their native places in Prayagraj and adjoining districts.
Vehicles, especially autos with registration number of Maharashtra, could be seen carrying workers in outer areas of Prayagraj on Tuesday and some of them even managed to enter the city despite check points and barriers installed at many places in the city.
These migrant workers, mainly working in factories and having a slightly better economic condition, are arriving in autos. They said that they had paid hefty amounts to the auto drivers of Mumbai to persuade them to transport them to their native villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Some auto and taxi drivers belong to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar while many, who are from Maharashtra, are now looking for passengers to earn some cash while on return journey.
More surprisingly, many autos and taxis carrying migrant workers managed to cross the check points on the around 1,500 km route from Mumbai to Prayagraj. Majority of the workers, who hired autos and taxis, had to spend all their savings to pay the hefty fare.
On being questioned about their journey, many were reluctant to disclose details but on condition of anonymity disclosed the amount they were spending to reach their village.
“The auto and taxi drivers are charging hefty amounts from Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 from each passenger for ferrying them to their native places according to the distance covered,” claimed a worker named Dharmesh Misra, who used to work in a printing unit in Mumbai and returned in an auto with three others.
The labourers, when stopped at check points, gave different excuses to the cops and most of the time, the vehicles were allowed to proceed. However, in some cases, alternate routes were used for continuing the journey, said Shashank Singh, a taxi driver.
“It took six days to cover the distance from Mumbai to Prayagraj as we covered 300 to 400 km every day while taking rest in between. Many auto drivers have also gone towards Pratapgarh,” said one of the auto drivers, who was waiting for passengers as he was to return to Mumbai after dropping labourers in Prayagraj.
Assistant road transport officer (ARTO) Siyaram Verma said autos and taxis from outside the state were not allowed to ply in UP. “A team will be deployed to check movement of vehicles from outside the state in UP,” he added.