Migrant workers from Arunachal Pradesh, employed in a garment factory at Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, were stranded outside the Visakhapatnam Railway Station since Sunday.
“We reached Chennai by train and came here from there by another train. We did not get any train after the Janata Curfew on Sunday. Today, the railways cancelled all services,” said Sanjay and Ranjan, who are part of a 16-member group from the north eastern State.
While the other members of the group lay on the ground at the bus shelter, the duo sat on a concrete sit-out around the pillar. They covered their nose and mouths with handkerchiefs. Sharing the space with them were some urchins and homeless persons.
The shutdown of factories in view of the COVID-19 threat has seen an exodus of migrant workers. With all trains being cancelled till March 31, they were not allowed into the station premises by Railway Protection Force personnel.
“We thought we could catch a bus but they have also been cancelled. We managed to get four rooms for the 16 of us at a lodge near Chavulamadhum,” said Mr. Sanjay.
Help fails to materialise
Rajesh of Patangi of Bhubaneswar was seen making frantic calls. “I missed the last direct train to Patangi before the start of the Janata Curfew. I was forced to take the train to Visakhapatnam but now I am stranded here with buses also being cancelled. I called my parents and they arranged an acquaintance from Odisha to pick me up in his car but he was stopped at the border,” Mr. Rajesh told The Hindu.
“I am worried about reaching home and cannot think of lunch now,” Mr. Rajesh said when asked whether he had anything to eat. A group of passengers from Srikakulam, who were stranded at the bus stop near the railway station, started walking towards the RTC complex, about 2 km away, though they were told that the services had been cancelled.
