Exodus unabated but entry to Anand Vihar blocked
23 fresh cases in Delhi, total rises to 72 ■ Stay home, it’s biggest patriotism right now: Kejriwal
A day after thousands of migrant workers poured at the Anand Vihar bus terminus on the Delhi-UP border to reach back to their villages, hundreds attempted to leave again on Sunday but were stopped by police barricades some distance from the bus stand.
The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi climbed to 72 on Sunday after 23 fresh cases were reported in a day, the health department said. Till Saturday night, the number of cases of the Covid-19 pandemic stood at 49, including two deaths. According to the Delhi health department, out of the total 72 cases recorded so far, 64 are admitted at various hospitals.
Many people were also seen trying to walk on the railway track at Anand Vihar to go their home towns in Uttar Pradesh. Since the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24 to deal with the coronavirus epidemic, all business and economic activity has come to a virtual standstill, leaving migrant workers with no work. Most of them are daily wage earners who live a hand-to-mouth existence in big cities, and cannot afford to pay rent or
buy food unless they earn.
“They are beating people who try to move further. I am here with my wife and 11-year-old son and we can’t afford to be beaten up by police. Now we have only one option — go back to our home in Shahdara’s Vishwas Nagar area,” Bhura Singh said.
“If police open the borders, we can walk all the way to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh some 100 kilometres away. Due to this lockdown, my work got affected.
From past one week, I have nothing to do. I sell fruits, for which I have to go to Ghazipur mandi and police are not allowing us to go there.
“I live in a rented accommodation and it will become very difficult for us to give rent and bear our daily expenses. We can somehow manage these things in Moradabad,” Singh said.
On Saturday, thousands of daily wagers and labourers from Delhi, Haryana and
even Punjab reached Anand Vihar, Ghazipur and Ghaziabad’s Lal Kuan areas after arduous treks on foot in a bid to ride buses to their respective native places.
According to police, around 10,000 to 15,000 people had assembled at Anand Vihar on Saturday. Around 60 to 70 buses ferried as many passengers as they could. Till midnight, around 500 more buses were supposed to reach Delhi and evacuate the
migrant workers. However, there is no clarity on how many were actually sent on the buses and how many were dispersed by police.
By Sunday morning, the area had been cleared and Delhi police said no transit is being allowed from Anand Vihar bus terminus. Instead, barricades were placed on all entry points into the terminus at a distance of about 500 metres.
Pleading migrant labourers to stay put in Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that the “biggest patriotism” right now is to “stay wherever you are” and make the 21-day countrywide lockdown a success or India could fail against the coronavirus outbreak.
Mr Kejriwal appealed to migrant workers not to leave for their native places
in the interest of the country. Taking to Twitter, he asked the migrant workers to stay wherever they were as the risk of the coronavirus spreading increases due to large gatherings.
Thousands of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have started walking back to their homes due to the lockdown.
In his tweets in Hindi, Kejriwal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also appealed to people to stay wherever they are. “I assure you that the Delhi government has made sufficient arrangements for your food and accommodation.
For now, do not go to your villages in the country’s interest,” the chief minister wrote on Twitter.
So far, 49 coronavirus cases have been reported in the national capital.
“I appeal to all of you (migrant workers) not to go to your villages. Stay wherever you are, because in large gatherings, you are also at risk of being infected. The coronavirus will reach your villages and families through you and it will then spread across the country,” Mr Kejriwal said.
It will be difficult to save the country from this epidemic if that happens, he added.
Delhi government has made sufficient arrangements for your food and accommodation. For now, do not go to your villages in the country’s interest.
— Arvind Kejriwal,
Delhi CM