A group of workers from various districts in Tamil Nadu who were working in a company at Nagpur undertook an arduous trek in an attempt to reach their hometowns before they were stopped at Bidar in Karnataka and provided food and accommodation by the administration on April 2. By then, they had walked nearly 500 kilometres over four days.
A month later, the 17 workers returned to Tamil Nadu, after one of them contacted DMK MLA Poongothai who liaised with the Bidar administration. With the lockdown restrictions being eased a bit, the Bidar administration arranged a bus for the workers on Thursday and dropped them at the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border at Hosur.
At the time of writing, the workers were on their way towards the Krishnagiri Collectorate. “They arrived in Bidar on April 2. We arranged accommodation and food for them for the past one month. The MLA offered to pay for their transport, but we made arrangements on our own,” Akshy Sridhar, Assistant Commissioner, Bidar told The Hindu.
The 17 workers, aged between 19 and 31, decided to leave their accommodation a few days after the lockdown was announced and walk to Tamil Nadu.
“We decided to leave because of the virus spread. We didn’t want to stay there,” Selvaraj, S, who hails from Tenkasi said while they were on their bus to Hosur.
“All of us were desperate to just get back home. So we just started walking. When we reached Bidar on the fourth day, they stopped us at the border and informed us that since the lockdown was in place, we couldn’t go further. But they took care of us and arranged food, accommodation for us. They also tested us on alternate days for symptoms,” he said.
When asked how they managed to get food during their walk for four days, Mr. Selvaraj said people living in small villages en-route cooked some food for them.
The workers belong to Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai, Virudhunagar, Cuddalore, Thoothukudi, Ramanathapuram, Kancheepuram, Tenkasi, and Villupuram.
Ms. Poongothai said the Bidar AC was very helpful and took care of the arrangements for the workers. “Once the workers reach the Krishnagiri Collectorate, food will be provided for them. The Collector has assured us that they will make arrangements to send the 17 persons to their respective home towns,” she said.
