Migrants continue to pour in at Ghazipur, crowd Chhatarpur

nNEWDELHI: Migrant workers arriving in Delhi on trains from other states were stranded at the Delhiuttar Pradesh border in Ghazipur, as they tried to make their way back home to Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar. Nearly 5,000 migrants from across the national Capital also gathered near Chhatarpur Mandir in south Delhi between Saturday and Monday, after news spread that people were being screened here to be sent back home on trains, government officers said.

With trains from several states operating only up to Delhi, those who had made reservations on other trains till their home towns are waiting at the railway station, while many, who have run out of money, have decided to walk home.

Deepak Kumar, chief public relations officer of the Northern Railways, said, “Those who are arriving in special trains, and are not from Delhi, are arranging for their travel home on their own. We are only facilitating their travel in trains.”

A spokesperson for the Delhi government said that the parent states of the migrants should arrange for their transport home, since the Delhi government has “no role” in this process.

In Chhatarpur, the district authorities stepped in on Monday to arrange their stay on the temple premises and dharamshalas nearby, with assurances that they would get to board trains to their home towns over the next few days.

“Many of the nearly 5,000 migrants who had gathered here have returned to their homes. Over the last couple of days, we have sent around 900 people to their homes in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh by train. Around 2,000 migrants remain,” said DM Mishra, district magistrate (south Delhi).

Large gatherings in Ghaziabad’s Ghanta Ghar led to tensions, as thousands of migrants workers sought to get passes for three Shramik trains going to Bihar on Monday. “Many came in hope that documentation for all trains would also be taken up at Ghanta Ghar. An estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people had reached here,” said Sanjay Kumar, officer on special duty, Ghaziabad Development Authority.