2000 migrant workers returning home by foot stuck at TN-AP border as Jagan govt bars way
CHENNAI: Around 2000 migrant labourers who started a long journey of over 2000 kilometres back home are stranded on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border in Tiruvallur as Andhra police have barred the way and even transported hundreds of people who reached as far as Vijaywada back to the border.
Some 70 volunteers have been providing food and water to the labourers along the Chennai-Kolkata National Highway at places like Kavarapettai, Elavur, Gummidipoondi and Red Hills.
"We had set up a network of volunteers from Tiruvallur all the way towards Indore in Madhya Pradesh to provide food for labourers who are walking towards their hometowns. While most of the people reached Ongole, Vijayawada and Nellore two days back, the Andhra Pradesh police stopped them and transported them back to the Tamil Nadu border in buses and trucks," said Himathinan, who is one of the volunteers.
The volunteers from various parts of the state claimed that they have been trying to hold talks with officials from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu but there is no reply.
"We also contacted Atulya Misra, the officer appointed to oversee the return of migrants. We asked him to arrange trains to other states and he said work is underway," said Himathinan.
After pressure from Andhra Pradesh officials not to let labourers enter their state, the Tamil Nadu police have set up a checkpost a few kilometres from the border to halt the movement of workers.
"People who left the city three days before us are also stranded here with no food and money. They are asking us to go back to the places where we came from," laments Rakesh Khanna from Odisha.
The labourers say that many of them were initially asked to vacate their houses because they couldn't pay the rent and some were chased away from the construction sites or factories because they are out of a job.
"Officials and volunteers are trying to convince us to stay in the state because the journey is dangerous and there is no hope of survival back home also. But we don't have anywhere else to go. I have two little children who need milk and food every day. We started with the hope of survival and if we have to die on the way, so be it," says Ram Nivas from Himachal Pradesh.
He added that it is the same scenario in all the other states where their friends and relatives are working.