COVID-19 lockdown hits migrant workers, street dwellers in Vijayawada hard

Since Sunday, the VMC, with the support of Kanaka Durga temple authorities and NGOs, has been providing food to around 1,000 street dwellers twice a day.
Homeless and migrant workers sit under a flyover during lockdown in Vijayawada  on Thursday | Prasant Madugula
Homeless and migrant workers sit under a flyover during lockdown in Vijayawada on Thursday | Prasant Madugula

VIJAYAWADA: With the lockdown period extended till April 14 across the country, the situation of migrant workers and street dwellers in the city has become more miserable due to lack of employment, food and shelter. Several of them, especially the elderly people, are appealing to the municipal corporation authorities and district administration to shift them to the shelter homes as they are unable to stay on the roadside, starving.

When The New Indian Express conducted a ground-level inspection in the city on Thursday to verify the living conditions of the migrant workers and street dwellers during the lockdown period, majority of them were scared and hungry.

Sunkara Sivaiah, 34, a native of Chilakaluripet and carpenter by profession, said, “Nobody is stepping out during the lockdown period; I  am unable to survive in the present situation and how can I feed my family?”  “Thanks to the good Samaritans, who are feeding us twice a day. The State government should come forward and provide financial assistance and shelter for the working class, deprived of work following the corona scare,” he said.

The scene is the same for the construction workers too. “Since a few months, the construction sector has been reeling under crisis due to various reasons. As the contractors are not hiring us for works as the activity has come to a standstill due to the lockdown,” said R Appala Naidu, a native of Bobbili and a mason by profession.

“Considering the plight of construction workers like me, steps should be taken by the government to provide financial assistance without any restrictions,” he said.

“Abandoned people, especially elderly persons, are more prone to community transmission of virus as they lack awareness and hygiene,” V Ramakrishna, project director of Adarsha Rural Health and Economic Development Society, an NGO, told The New Indian Express.

“The VMC officials, who assured of shifting the street dwellers to the shelter homes, should act immediately as majority of them are facing various health issues and starving. Wwe are mobilising the donors to provide essential commodities and the number of food packets they can contribute per day,” he said.

Speaking to The New Indian Express on Thursday, VMC Estate Officer A Sridhar said that as per their estimate around 4,000 homeless poor and destitute are staying  near railway station, Pandit Nehru Bus Station, Benz Circle and Ajith Singh Nagar.

Since Sunday, the VMC, with the support of Kanaka Durga temple authorities and NGOs, has been providing food to around 1,000 street dwellers twice a day. Asked why the VMC didn’t shift the street dwellers to the shelter homes, he said that the corporation had planned to shift around 300 street dwellers to Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium where drinking water and toilet facilities are available.

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