Migrants stranded at Maha-guj border for want of police nod

AT LEAST 35-40 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING AT THE MAHARASHTRA SIDE FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS

Amid the lockdown, the Maharashtra-gujarat border checkpost at Talasari in Maharashtra’s Palghar district is bustling with cars, trucks and buses, with motorists running from one counter to the other with necessary documents to cross over to the neighbouring state. Lost among the sea of vehicles are the labourers – most of whom have walked all night or those who have hitch-hiked their way to the border with the help of truck and bus drivers. Their trek comes to a halt, but the struggle continues, as the police claim a majority of them carry medical certificates, but not a police permission letter, forcing some to wait for as long as four days to cross the border.

“After 12 hours and changing two trucks, one driver dropped us here. We’ve been sitting in this scorching heat since 10am because we can’t afford a vehicle,” says Raju Gajjar, a labourer from Dhandhuka city of Gujarat, who worked in Thane.

The police document required to cross the border states those interested in crossing borders should share details of a vehicle and the driver of the vehicle only “in case” they choose such a mode of transport. Labourers, however, allege the police don’t accept their forms without a vehicle and at least 35-40 people have been waiting at the Maharashtra side for the past two days. “The guidelines prescribed by the Centre state migrants who want to cross the border without vehicles should be facilitated by the state concerned, who should make food and shelter arrangements for free. We are following it,” said Balasaheb B Patil, deputy commissioner of police, Thane.