Mumbai: Migrants from Uttar Pradesh’s Basti flout social distancing norms in home-bound trains [VIDEO]
The central and state governments have been overwhelmed by the millions of stranded labourers who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Migrants labourers flout social distancing norms in Mumbai trains. | Photo Credit: Times Now
Mumbai: Coronavirus cases in the country are mounting at an alarming rate and Maharashtra is the worst-affected state by a huge margin. While overall cases in the state have crossed 59,000, Mumbai alone accounts for more than 36,000 infections.
In spite of this, people continue to blatantly flout social distancing norms, compromising their own safety as well as people around them. The highly contagious virus as a high mortality rate but people unabashedly violate laid down guidelines to minimalise physical contact.
Lakhs of migrant workers are travelling across the country to their respective home states, and most of them are natives of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. While they may not be the worst affected lot, the stakes are too high for them to take preventive measures likely.
In one such incident, a train heading for Basti in Uttar Pradesh was seen to be overcrowded at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and people were seen piling on to each other in order to find just enough space to squeeze into the compartment of the train to head home.
The central and state governments have been overwhelmed by the millions of stranded labourers who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus lockdown and took the roads to head home due to the lack of proper and affordable transport facilities.
However, that is independent of the fact that when trains and buses are provided for their journey home, they must maintain social distancing as the highly-contagious Covid-19 virus thrives in such environments and spreads faster through contact.
India as reported more than 165,000 coronavirus cases so far and over 4,800 people have succumbed to the illness. The numbers continue to spike rapidly and if scientists and senior medics are to be believed, cases in India will reach its peak in June-July, which is a month from now. By then, lakhs more migrants will be ferried to various parts of the country and such blatant violation of social distancing norms could spell doom for the country of 1.35 billion people.