BHUBANESWAR: Undeterred by the scorching sun, unavailability of food, and with no public transport in sight, four decorators of West Bengal have set off on foot from Visakhapatnam to Purba Medinipur district.
Yet through the arduous trek, they stand by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 21-day lockdown decision. The Prime Minister had recently asked for forgiveness from the people of the country for ordering the lockdown. By the way, the distance between Visakhapatnam and Purba Medinipur via National Highway 16 is about 770 km.
Sudip Dalei, Ranjit Patra, Kamal Kishan Mandal and Bapu Adi, who reached Bhubaneswar on Thursday, said they are neither tired of walking nor angry with PM Modi because the decision he took was for the greater good of the entire country.
The four were working as decorators in Visakhapatnam for a vendor which used to take assignments of marriage and engagement venues, birthday parties but after lockdown, he asked them to leave as there was no work.
"To contain the spread of the deadly virus, the order of lockdown was very important. We stand by our PM and wanted to follow his announcement but were left with no option other than returning to our native place," said Dalei.
Dalei and his friends used to bear the expenses of their food in Visakhapatnam, while their employer would pay the house rent. "Our employer told us he would arrange a vehicle but did not. We were offered lifts but for the initial few kilometres. The remaining journey between Andhra Pradesh and Bhubaneswar was covered by us on foot," said Patra.
Due to the lockdown, they found most of the hotels on the National Highway shut. They have been surviving on biscuits which they buy from roadside shops. The four would walk till 1 am and sleep before starting their journey again at about 4 am every day.
They also observed that traffic in Bhubaneswar was more as compared to other places in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. "We were lucky as a person provided us food and water. We have not yet opened the food and saved it for the night," said Dalei.
Since their families are dependent on them for livelihood, once the lockdown is over, they would start picking up pieces of their lives in West Bengal. Dalei has seven dependents, while Patra’s elderly parents are counting on him.