HP porter walks 250 km to his villagein Sirmaur

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 29

“My feet are swollen and I am unable to wear shoes”, said Ashok who, along with nine others, walked 200-250 km over a span of three days from Shimla to his native Matiyana village in Shillai area of Sirmaur.

A porter in Shimla, Ashok said he ran out of money and rations and was left with no option but to trudge back home. He is not the only person to have done so. Hundreds of daily wagers working in the state capital are headed home in Shillai and Renuka areas of Sirmaur.

“We started from Shimla on March 27 and took a short cut via the Ashwani Khud – Junga- Yashwant Nagar- Rajgarh- Haripurdhar – Shillai route. Carrying boiled rice and water, we also walked during the night,” said Rohit, who belongs to Shillai. Some villagers provided them food on the second day while at Rajgarh they were given food packets by the police. “A large number of people are running out of essential items and are starving. Some are waiting for payments from contractors to move back to their villages,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the CM, Shillai MLA Harshvardhan Chauhan has pointed out that a large number of labourers, tourist guides and students from Renuka and Shillai are stuck in upper Shimla, Solan, Baddi and Barotiwala, without money and food. He has said 200-300 persons are daily crossing Girinagar and Nainatikkar to reach Sirmaur. With women, children and the elderly unable to walk long distances, he has urged the CM to arrange for buses to ferry them home as “none has foreign travel history.”