CHENNAI: Some of the most distressing images of the pandemic-induced lockdown were of migrant workers, who began the difficult journey of returning to their villages, with bags and kids perched on their heads and arms.
Walking, cycling, hitchhiking rides...desperate times called for desperate measures; some made it, while many others didn’t. It was only after the Shramik special trains were introduced on May 1 that at least 1.2 lakh migrant workers — to begin with — were facilitated to return to their hometown in over 100 trains, by early July.
In the consequent months, with the resumption of economic activities, daily-wage labourers, with their thin savings exhausted, started making their way back to urban pockets. At least 50,000 migrant workers have returned to Chennai.
While many tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival, the number of cases are now seemingly under control. And with construction sites restarting abandoned work,the workers are, once again, helping rebuild a post-pandemic city — brick by brick.