In yet another development related to the inter-state movement of migrant workers, as many as 18 labourers were found to be packed inside a cement mixer truck in Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Saturday, May 2. Police officials have informed that the migrants were headed to their home in Uttar Pradesh from the state of Maharashtra.
"They were travelling from Maharashtra to Lucknow. As of now, the truck has been sent to a police station and an FIR has been registered," Umakant Chaudhary, the deputy superintendent of police, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Video showcases plight of the migrants
The agency also tweeted a short clip that shows the labourers coming out of the truck after it was stopped by cops stationed at the Indore-Ujjain border.
#WATCH 18 people found travelling in the mixer tank of a concrete mixer truck by police in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. DSP Umakant Chaudhary says, "They were travelling from Maharashtra to Lucknow. The truck has been sent to a police station & an FIR has been registered". pic.twitter.com/SfsvS0EOCW
— ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2020
The news comes in a day after the Ministry Of Home Affairs (MHA) announced the extension of the nationwide lockdown to curb the novel coronavirus spread till May 17.
Centre runs special trains to ferry migrants
Addressing the plight of migrant workers stuck in different states in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown, the MHA on Wednesday, April 29, allowed the movement of migrant workers, students, pilgrims, tourists and others stranded at various places.
To facilitate the transfer of large numbers of laborers, Indian Railways decided to run special trains. R.D. Bajpai, Railways Executive Director (Media), informed that as per the MHA guidelines, "Shramik Special" trains will be run to ferry the stranded persons to their native states.
A non-stop train with around 1,200 migrant workers was started from Telangana to Jharkhand on Friday. Another special train with more than 1,000 migrant workers left from Kerala to Bhubaneshwar the same day.
Coronavirus lockdown extended by two more weeks
Keeping in view the continuous rise in COVID-19 cases across the country, the Centre has extended the nationwide lockdown by two more weeks till May 17. Before announcing the extension, the Centre had split all the 733 districts in the country into red, orange and green zones.
India on Friday recorded its highest single-day jump with almost 2,300 people testing positive for COVID-19. With this, the total number of patients in the country has exceeded 37,000-mark. The death toll due to the novel coronavirus currently stands at over 1,200.
