24 migrants die in homeward journey

LUCKNOW: As many as 24 migrants lost their lives during Covid-19 lockdown not to the virus, but to road accidents or exhaustion during their grinding journey way back home.
Though chief minister Yogi Adityanath has made several appeals to migrants not to travel on foot and promised that they will be transported safely by government, many still embarked on their journey home on foot, bicycles and carts.
While many reached home, 18 were crushed to death while six died due to fatigue. Police preserved the viscera of the six who died due to exhaustion.
ADG, law and order, P V Ramasastry, told TOI, “We are taking all steps to prevent road accidents. District administration, district police chiefs and two police commissioners have been instructed to stop migrants from heading home on foot. They should be provided food and water, and then sent home by buses.”
On Monday, two migrants Rahul (22) and Parasuram (42) of Maharajganj district died in an accident while walking home from Hyderabad.
In Prayagraj, two brothers Rajiv Rai (28) and Avanish Rai (30) from Bihar were crushed to death on Sunday. Besides, a Chhattisgarh couple and a man from Bihar travelling on bicycle were crushed to death in Lucknow.
On Saturday night, one Prakash Pandey (45) of UP was crushed to death in Jhansi.
Six migrants of Madhya Pradesh died in accident at Mathura while three from UP were killed in road accident in Aligarh and one Nitin Kumar (26) was crushed by a bus in Moradabad.
Meanwhile, two migrant workers Hiralal Bind (33) and Kanhaiya Lal (29) who reached Lucknow on Shramik Special trains died under mysterious circumstances. Four others died while cycling and walking on foot from Maharashtra, Delhi.