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Indian Migrant Workers Trudge Hundreds of Kilometers for COVID-19 Lockdowns

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - Hari Singh, a migrant worker in Mumbai, walked for two days
   with just a few stops as he tried to reach his village more than 800
   kilometers away in northern Rajasthan state after India announced a
   nationwide lockdown on Wednesday. He spent the night on the roadside.

   He was not alone. There were about 200 others trekking on the road,
   hoping to return to the sanctuary of their homes and villages.

   Singh is among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers desperate
   to leave cities where they are stranded without work or money as India
   shuts down for three weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
   With all transportation, such as trains and buses, suspended, many are
   making arduous journeys of hundreds of kilometers on foot, lugging bags
   or clutching small bundles.

   For Singh, 21, even that option did not work -- police turned him back
   after he had trudged over 150 kilometers. Following reports of an
   exodus of workers from cities, authorities have tightened surveillance
   to prevent people from crossing states amid fears that they could carry
   the virus to the vast countryside, defeating the effort to contain its
   spread.
   

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