BENGALURU: With the Covid-19 case load reducing, people who had left Bengaluru earlier for their hometowns in other states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, and also to districts and villages within Karnataka, are now slowly returning to the city. Meghana, who left for Kerala towards the end of April due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru, returned last week. “When the daily cases in Bengaluru hit 27,000, I decided it would be safer to take a bus home than stay here.
I was worried about not getting a hospital bed or oxygen if I needed it. I had been watching the numbers and now that the cases and positivity rate are decreasing, I decided to come back. I have also got the first shot of the vaccine here. I am still very wary about going out, but I needed to be back for some urgent work,” she said.
29-year-old Rehan Ali (name changed), a business development manager who hails from Tumakuru, returned to Bengaluru on Saturday morning. “When Karnataka was deciding on a lockdown, I moved back to Tumakuru so that I don’t get stuck here. My company gave us permission to work from home. However, as the cases have come down and as the lockdown might be lifted in the city, the company has asked us to head back to the city to start work from the office again. It also looks safer to travel now as the cases have reduced significantly,” he said.
Some others are looking for ways to return to the state capital amidst the lockdown. The number of people returning is expected to rise once the lockdown is lifted. Offices are expected to reopen by June-end or early July and that may prompt employees to return.
Rukshar Parween, native of Jharkhand who works in Bengaluru, left the city before the lockdown, owing to rising COVID-19 cases. “My office provided work from home, but now I am trying to return as cases are reducing. I am looking for flights to get back,” said Rukshar, a testing engineer.
Mohamed Fahad, a language specialist at Google, returned to Kalaburagi because of the pandemic. Though he is apprehensive about getting back to Bengaluru, he has to return for official purposes. “We cannot stay home forever and have to return at some point, irrespective of the Covid-19 situation. I intend to return around June 14,” he said.