Stuffed in a truck, aching to get home
LUCKNOW: Sixty-five migrants paid Rs 1.5 lakh to a truck driver to reach Basti, Pratapgarh and Bahraich from Maharashtra. When police stopped the truck at Lucknow- Agra expressway toll plaza, the driver tried to dodge cops, saying there were goods in the vehicle.
But when a cop removed the tarpaulin, migrant workers started coming out one after another. They were 65, including five women and two small children.
Unaware of border sealing, the workers braved the scorching heat and the suffocating environment in the truck with just one aim—reach home.
“It is better to walk home or travel in such conditions instead of dying of hunger, that too away from home,” said Ajit Kumar, a native of Basti, who left his village two years back to work in a construction firm in Nasik.
A group of 5 youth from Bahraich’s Nanpara paid Rs. 15, 000 to the truck driver. “Hamko Bola tha ghar tak le jayega. Jo Hamare pas tha de diya. Ab police kah rahi hai bus me bhejenge, lekin hamare pas to ab paise nahin hai. (Whatever we had, we paid to the truck driver who assured to get us through. But cops said we will be sent in buses. We don’t have money to pay now),” said Waris Mohammad, who was unaware of free bus services. “Aaj ghar pahunch jayenge kya (Will we be home today),” asked Sanjay Kumar Yadav of Pratapgarh, who was sitting inside the truck.
Holding her one- and- a- halfyear old child in her lap, Zarina Khatun had to struggle to deboard the truck. “I wish buses had been provided earlier. My son would not have to brave the heat,” she said.
Those bound for neighboring states are still worried since they are not assured about an entry in their home states like Bihar. Om Prakash Yadav or who was returning to his village in Siwan, Bihar from Ballabgarh in Haryana on bicycle was stopped by police at toll booth on LucknowAgra Expressway on the outskirts of Lucknow.
“We have been sitting here for over an hour. We are happy that we will get a bus now, but not sure about the time,” Yadav said.
Another group bound to Bihar’s Supaul district on cycles was taken to the shelter home. “We started from Ambala on May 12. Now UP government is providing buses but we are not sure whether or not Bihar government would allow us to enter,” one of them said.