VIZIANAGARAM: Witnessing the plight of migrant workers walking from Chennai, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Nellore and other places, and entering Vizianagaram on the way to their native states, a local businessman, Chandrasekhar, has started arranging trucks to take them to the borders of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. He spends between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 on this every day. Over the last four days, Chandrasekhar transported about 1,500 migrants.
“A few days ago, I saw a woman carrying a baby and luggage and walking on the road at Bhogapuram, and was moved by her plight,” said the resident of Maruvada in Bondapalli mandal who runs a small business in Ranasthalam. Some migrants eat stale food because they have no option, he says, adding that they save part of the food people give them during the day, for dinner.
“To help, I arranged trucks at the district border in Bhogapuram. On Monday, I shifted about 600 people in six vehicles, 500 in five vehicles on Tuesday, and 400 in four vehicles on Thursday. I spend RS 15,000-20,000 to hire each vehicle,” he explains. “About four days ago, a woman from Uttar Pradesh delivered a baby near Vizianagaram on her way to her hometown. She then resumed her journey on foot. We shifted her to Sunki, a border village, to go to UP,” he adds.
Chandrasekhar takes migrants travelling to Bhubaneswar and Kolkata to the Rayagada border, and those travelling to Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and UP to Sunki. “We also give them food and water,” he say, adding that the distance from Bhogapuram to the Rayagada border is 110 km, and to Sunki is 120 km.