Without Jobs Since A Month, Stranded Migrants Back To Work In Bengaluru

Several migrant labourers have started returning to their pre-lockdown work site after Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) resumed work, suspended since March 22, as a precaution to contain the spread of highly contagious novel coronavirus.

The development comes even as the centre granted permission for all stranded people - migrant labourers, students and tourists - to return to their home states.

With the COVID-19 lockdown in place since March 25, the labourers were left with no means to earn their livelihood.

Workers from West Bengal and Jharkhand were spotted at a site on Kanakapura Road, where work on Phase 2 of Namma Metro is underway. Migrant workers from these two states, along with Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, account for 91 percent of more than 9,000 workers employed at the mega metro project, meant to make moving around the city relatively easier.

"We work for a month and get monthly wages. There was no work during the lockdown.," said a worker from West Bengal. "We stay just a short distance away from the site. We are getting everything here. But, given a chance, I would go home," said another from Jharkhand.

Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Mysuru are the three red zone districts identified by the Centre in Karnataka. Masks are compulsory in public and social distancing mandatory at the work site and during travel.

The state has permitted one time travel of labourers and students in and out of Karnataka - details of which are still being discussed with other states. But, while migrant workers may indeed long to go home, the need to earn a living that brought them hundreds of kilometres from home, would see many of them staying right where they are.