There were three pregnant women and many young children too in the group.
A one-month-old was among a group of 80 people who had packed themselves into a truck near Mumbai to take a journey of over 1,500 km to their villages in Uttar Pradesh, risking being stopped at state borders and running out of food during the coronavirus lockdown.
When NDTV caught up the group on the Mumbai-Nashik road this afternoon, their Sultanpur-bound truck had broken down. The temperature was close to 40 degrees. There were three pregnant women and many young children too in the group. They were sitting on the ground by the road of the road, waiting for the truck to be repaired.
Last night, another truck carried around 60 people, including a five-month-old from Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh. While most of them were sitting inside the truck, some were standing, trying to get hold of food packers and water bottles. Social distancing was on the bottom of the priority list as each person struggles to find a corner for themselves.
Laid on a sheet of cloth, the five-month-old was seen playing as his mother fanned him to bring some relief from the sultry weather. "If we stay here, what will we eat?" the baby's young mother, wearing a mask, told NDTV.
Migrants say they are choosing to make the journey on foot or by road, despite limited resources and punishing weather, because the special trains being organised by the government take too long.
Left with no jobs and shelter in the city, many of the migrants on the UP-bound truck have borrowed money to pay for the journey.
"This is our compulsion. There are no arrangements for their food and water. The trucks are charging Rs 3,000 per person We're somehow collecting money. Rs 3,000 is a lot but the transporters are not budging. Some of them charge Rs 3,500-4,000," Kamlesh Yadav, on of the men organizing the transport workers told NDTV.
A number of tragic stories about migrant workers families have emerged from various parts of the country, including that of five migrant labourers dying in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday night when a truck they were travelling in overturned in a village.
Last week, 16 migrants in a group of 20 were run over by a cargo train while they were sleeping on the tracks in Maharashtra, prompting outpouring of condolences nationwide. They were walking from Jalna in Maharashtra to Bhusaval in Madhya Pradesh, 157 km apart.
Lakhs of migrant workers, daily wagers, students and others had been left stranded after the coronavirus lockdown came into effect in March. With no money or jobs, and inter-state transportation shut, they were left with no choice but to walk, often thousands of kilometres, home.
Earlier this month, the centre, after reportedly being forced to act by concern over a political backlash, said special trains would ferry migrants, providing they had completed quarantine and tested negative.