Lockdown: Two migrants die in road accidents in UP

Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, May 12

After having travelled 1,300 km in an auto rickshaw from Maharashtra, a woman and her 6-year old daughter were killed in an accident when a truck hit them on Tuesday just 230 km short of their destination in Jaunpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Sanju Yadav and her daughter Nandini were part of a group that was travelling from Thane in an auto rickshaw for the last three days when they met with the accident in Fatehpur district.

Despite the state government asking migrants not to walk or cycle down, they flock the highway and make the treacherous journey home, too despondent to wait any longer.

Spurred by lack of resources at a time of an unprecedented lockdown called to slow the spread of coronavirus, many migrants brave not just the virus but the length of the journey—all in an attempt to get back home.

Take the example of 25-year-old Shiv Kumar Das.A migrant, Das was killed when a car knocked him down when he cycling down from Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh to Bihar.

The car’s brakes reportedly failed, killing the cyclist. The driver of the car was also injured in the accident.

Earlier on Monday, two migrants travelling in a truck to reach their village in Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh were killed when the truck met with an accident.

On May 9, 24-year old Sagheer Ansari, who worked as a tailor in Delhi was mowed down on the divider of the highway in Lucknow as he was eating a sparse meal of flattened rice. He along with his group mates, including his cousin had cycled down 500 km and had another 474 km to cover to reach home in Motihari in Bihar, where his wife and three children were waiting for him.

After post mortem, his body was sent to village in an ambulance late on Saturday.

On May 7, a couple started on cycle from a slum in Lucknow to their native village in Chhattisgarh—a distance of 700 km.

When they had barely made it out of town, they became victims of a hit-and-run accident. Both died on the spot, leaving a 4-year-old son and one-and-a half-year old daughter.

Experts believe that the number of migrants who die while making their journey could be higher—some of sheer exhaustion of the journey and some in road accidents.

Experts also believe many of such cases go unreported, making it difficult to document just how many such incidents have really happened.