BENGALURU: “We ate tomato rice on Monday and that was the only meal we had. We are glad we did not leave or else we too would have been stranded on roads. Our families are calling us but we have explained that there is no bus or train. We at least have a shelter for the night,” says Satyashobhan Mohapatra (39), a labourer from Odisha.
He and 30 others live in a five-room lodge in Kalasipalya and pay Rs 80- 90 per day as rent which has now been waived off, but food is still a problem.
Some of them go to an Indira Canteen nearby in twos and threes, or obtain food from NGOs distributing food to homeless workers. “We have no food and we cannot go out as the police hit us. Do not give us packed meals that suffice only for one person. Give us rations. Even if its rice and dal, it is fine. We will cook, khichdi, dal- rice or sambar-rice, rasam-rice and feed ourselves and others. We do not want to be a burden on others,” Stayashobhan said.
Five days after the lockdown was announced, the BBMP has worked out measures to supply food packets to nearly one lakh labourers stranded in the city. The BBMP has partnered with 12 organisations and citizens for the supply of 2,33,669 meals a day, including 1,75,700 meals from Indira Canteens.
Bengaluru Mayor M Goutham Kumar said Akshay Patra Foundation would 40,000 cartons containing rice, pulses, oil, vegetables, and masala that can feed one person for 21-days provided while 17,000 meals would be supplied by Jain International Traders Association.
BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar added that Rs 10 lakh has been released to all eight zones to supply food and essentials. A government school near Kanishka Hotel has been converted into a rehabilitation centre where 60 people were shifted.