Thousands of migrant labourers gathered at a Mumbai station in the suburban area of Bandra hoping that they could return to their hometowns in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as today was the last day of lockdown. As per reports, the labourers had to be dispersed and sent back to the labour camps set up for their stay considering that the lockdown has been extended.
“Migrant workers who gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai may have thought PM Modi had ordered opening of state borders,” said Anil Deshmukh, home minister of Maharashtra Government.He added that the crowd has now been dispersed and is under control.
In a viral video, Mumbai police can be seen trying to reason with the workers that the lockdown has not been lifted and Covid-19 outbreak is still a serious concern. The cops had to resort to lathi-charge to finally disperse the crowd.
Majority of the migrant labourers are scared of the uncertainty due to the prolonged lockdown and were hoping to return to their homes in other states and cities.
This is one of the first time that Mumbai and Maharashtra witnessed a labour unrest which so far had been different from other states, which had seen exodus on a massive scale. The state of Maharashtra has so far been managing its migrant population through labour camps, corporates stepping up to take care of its migrant work force and a network of non-profit organisations.
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