Over 600 migrants stuck in small lodges in the lanes around Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Central Railway Station since the lockdown began are facing eviction as they have run out of money to pay rent.
Appealing to the State government to ensure food and continuance of their stay until public transportation resumes, the workers demanded that the governments in their home States should make arrangements for their return at the earliest.
While a majority of the affected people are daily wage earners from West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkand working in construction sector in Kerala, a small number of them are in Chennai for medical and other reasons.
Rabiul Sheikh from Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal said he and a large group of workers boarded train on March 21 from Kozhikode soon after the announcement of ‘ Janta curfew ’ with the hope of reaching home. “However, on reaching Chennai on March 22, the trains were stopped,” he said.
At least 4,500 people from other States were stranded at Chennai Central Railway on March 22. While more than 1,100 were accommodated by the Greater Chennai Corporation in community halls, Rabiul was among the few hundred who moved to nearby lodges.
The lodges charge them ₹100 to ₹150 a day per person. “We were initially paying. However, we could not pay for the last four or five days as we ran out of money. We depend on volunteers for food,” said Qaiyum Ansari, another daily wage earner.
He alleged that in at least one lodge, electricity and water supply were cut off on Thursday and restored only after the activists and the authorities intervened in the matter.
Gayathri Khandhadai, a Chennai-based lawyer, who is part of a collective that is running a helpline for migrant workers, blamed the authorities for failing to ensure food and for not talking to the lodge owners until Thursday despite several representations made to them.
No freebies
The manager of a lodge, speaking on anonymity, said that it was becoming difficult to supply water and electricity free of cost. “The Corporation is willing to move them to shelters. Why cannot they move,” he asked.
Santosh Haldar from West Bengal, who is here with his brother and mother for treatment at a charitable eye hospital, said that they did not want to move to shelters for fear of crowding, poor hygiene and lack of adequate toilets. “This is a tough situation. The government must help us to continue to stay here,” he said.
Greater Chennai Corporation on Friday clarified that its officials met lodge owners and asked them to take care of the migrant workers staying at their places until lockdown ends.
