Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 wave, several migrant workers have left the city of Mumbai and returned to their home towns. To facilitate the same, respective state governments had arranged special trains, with an aim to avoid hassle for the citizens. Information shared by Mahendra Kalyankar, commissioner, labour, and director, industrial safety and health stated that over 3.2 million people have left the state of Maharashtra and returned back to different states.
Since April 1, 2021, more than 11 lakh people have left the state and returned to Uttar Pradesh and more than 4 lakh have returned to Bihar, mentioned Kalyankar, who further added that COVID was not the only reason for them to travel as the summer season was also considered the best for harvest and marriages. Moreover, it is said that the people would return back to the state and their travel for only seasonal and pandemic was just one of the several factors.
Meanwhile, information shared by the officials also mentioned that thousands of factories in the state are operating with 50 per cent staff. Details shared by the railways reveal that since the factories are operating, passengers have not left the city in large numbers and COVID-10 was not the only factor. Infact, the travel was seasonal due to the harvesting season and increase in number of marriages.On the other hand, people who were planning to leave the city due to the virus scare have taken a step back since the government introduced mandatory RT-PCR testing. This is said to have reduced the panic among the citizens. On the other hand, Credai-MCHI also stated that work in the companies was not affected amidst the second wave of the pandemic as the raw materials were available and companies were able to pay the wages on time, unlike the first wave.
Data shared by the Central Railway revealed that over 16 lakh people have left different districts from MMR, Pune and Solapur; and over 14 lakh left on the Western Railway routes. Most of these passengers returned to states like Assam, Bihar, UP, and West Bengal, in over a month, between April 1 and May 5, 2021.
Post the first wave of the coronavirus lockdown, many migrant workers returned to the cities in Mumbai with a hope to resume work and earning. In the first few months, lakhs of people returned home but returned a few months later to resume their life. However, it is not the same this year since the industries have been given the permission to operate with revised guidelines. However, among the many who have left Maharashtra were rickshaws drivers, masons, etc, who were not able to find work and were facing difficulty amidst the pandemic.
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