25,000 migrants on Bihar border block highway

VARANASI: A huge crowd of over 25,000 migrant labourers seeking entry in Bihar at Naubatpur border in Chandauli district crammed both the lanes of national highway-2 with queues of vehicles stretching to 15 km.
Even goods carriers ferrying essential supplies were stranded following which divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal and IG Varanasi range VS Mina reached Naubatpur and talked to their counterparts from Bihar.
Migrant labourers travelling on foot, trucks and other vehicles from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi have been reaching Naubatpur via UP in thousands per day since a fortnight. The migrants are being allowed entry only after proper health screening by Bihar officials at a camp in trans-Karmnasha area.
The rush of migrants increased on Saturday and over 25,000 amassed at the border. Initially, due to their movement only the lane of vehicles heading to Bihar was choked. But, since Saturday morning, the opposite lane of highway was also blocked with queues of vehicles stretching to over 15 km.
Divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal said, “We met district magistrate Kaimur and senior police officers from Bihar and asked them to shift the checking and screening camp few km inside their territory so that the highway jam is cleared and essential supplies are not hit. They agreed to shift their screening camp. The highway opened by late afternoon.”
The officials worked to solve this problem on immediate basis as the vehicles carrying essential goods and building material were stuck in jam.
Officials said that checking of overloading by vehicles is also done at Naubatpur and is necessary since it is damaging the bridge on river Karmnasha.