The joy of securing passes to proceed to their native places from Telangana was short-lived for those travelling towards Andhra Pradesh (AP) as the police on the inter-State borders claimed they were yet to receive an official communication from Telangana.
Though a quite a few migrant workers managed to leave for their native places in other States in private vehicles in the past two days, many others continue to face obstacles in returning to their villages in Andhra Pradesh.
Notwithstanding fresh guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) pertaining to inter-State movement of migrant workers stranded on account of coronavirus lockdown, many stranded migrant workers are still finding it difficult to go to their native villages in the adjoining State due to multiple factors.
A large group of around 150 migrant workers, including their family members, got held up along the inter-State border with Andhra Pradesh after reaching the border checkpoint in Aswaraopeta mandal against all odds on Sunday afternoon. “We reached the Telangana-AP border in private vehicles after obtaining permission from the local authorities in Karepalli mandal to travel to our villages in AP. But officials on the other side of the border in AP’s Jeelugumilli mandal refused entry to us citing lack of orders from their higher-ups,” said a migrant worker.
“Lack of bus facility and effective coordination between the authorities of both the States left us stranded on the roadside,” rued another migrant worker.
The matter has been communicated to the officials of Jeelugumilli mandal of AP with a request to allow the stranded migrant workers to proceed to their native villages, said a police officer at the border checkpoint in Aswaraopet mandal. “We have provided food and water to the labourers and are trying to help them reach their native places in compliance with the MHA guidelines,” the officer told The Hindu .
AP workers stranded
Some 220 migrant workers hailing from Andhra Pradesh and other States remained stranded at the inter-State border in Suryapet district till Sunday noon, as there were no clear guidelines from the government and with police sticking to the no-entry rules of the lockdown. There were 40 migrants workers belonging to AP and the remaining were from Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar.
Kodad Rural Inspector Shiva Ram Reddy said the workers holding police clearance and medical certificates started reaching Ramapuram crossroads by 10 p.m. on Saturday, but were denied entry by AP police.
For those belonging to AP, the rule to get admitted to an institutional quarantine centre was a must, and 29 of them agreed to it and entered their State. The other returned to their places of work.
Men, women and children of other States were allowed to pass through, but with a delay of nearly 15 hours.
Suryapet police’s help came at the right time for the waiting groups. Police, with local contribution, arranged water, butter milk packets and lunch for all the 220 persons till they left the border at around 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, the situation at Pullur checkpost in Jogulamba-Gadwal district was different. A senior police officer said people going to AP from Telangana did not face any such issue so far. “Vehicles going to AP from here are very less till now, compared to other districts. We are anticipating that the numbers will increase from tomorrow,” the officer said.
(With inputs from Abhinay Deshpande in Hyderabad)
