As many as 184 migrant workers, including their family members and children, who were proceeding to their native places on trucks were stopped by the Dharwad District Police on Thursday and subsequently sent home in public transport buses.
According to the Dharwad District Police, these migrant workers had started their journey on two trucks from Chitradurga district and were proceeding to their native places in Raigad district of Maharashtra. They were all working at charcoal kilns in and around Challakere and Hiriyur of Chitradurga district. They were intercepted at Varur-Agadi check-post. Of these 184 persons, 55 were women and 65 children. On being alerted, a team of officials, led by Assistant Commissioner of Dharwad district Mohammed Zuber, took steps to provide temporary shelter to them in Hubballi. Subsequently, following a direction from Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Deepa M. they made arrangements for sending them on public transport buses to their State.
Mr. Mohammed Zuber said that all the migrant workers and their family members were sent on six buses of North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), after medical examination. He said that a communication in this regard had been sent to the Deputy Commissioner of Raigad seeking help to ferry them to Raigad from Karnataka border. NWKRTC buses would ferry them up to Nippani on Maharashtra border, he said.
Hubballi taluk administration provided food to the migrant workers. It also distributed milk. These buses left here after all precautionary measures were ensured. Hubballi Rural tahsildar Prakash Nasi, Kundgol tahsildar Basavaraj Melavanki, Divisional Controller of NWKRTC Hubballi Division H. Ramanagoudar, Taluk Health Officer R.S. Hittalamani and Hubballi Rural Police Inspector J.R. D’souza and other officials supervised the arrangements.
