Stranded in Amritsar, migrants spend nights on pavements

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 12

Hundreds of people, including migrant labourers and tourists from various parts of UP, MP, Bihar, West Bengal and Punjab, who had come here on a tour, have now been stranded in the wake of curfew restrictions.

They go to the Golden Temple to have their meals. But since they have no roof over their heads, they spend their nights on pavements of shops in Guru Bazar.

SGPC officials said they feared that the persons, who were found sleeping on the premises of the Golden Temple plaza during night, were dragged out of the premises by the police. The officials opined that instead of evacuating them from the premises, they could have been accommodated in Raen Basera.

The officials said the tourists rued that they were unable to return to their homes, as the transportation system had been suspended. The visitors said despite several attempts, no government official had paid heed to their pleas and instead they were beaten up by the police.

Amritsar Police Commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill said the matter to accommodate the visitors had been taken up with Deputy Commissioner Shiv Dular Singh.

An SGPC official, requesting anonymity, said the visitors couldn’t be accomodated in sarais (inns), as they had been handed over to the Amritsar administration and the Health Department to quarantine Covid patients and accommodate medics.

Sri Ram from Indore said: “I had come to Amritsar in search of a job. I was hired as a labourer at Jallianwala Bagh. However, my services were terminated after the renovation and restoration work at the site was suspended. I, along with my other colleagues, who hailed from UP and Bihar, have got stranded here. We get tea and food from ‘guru ghar’, but have no place to spend the night,” he said.

Amarjit Singh from Calcutta said: “I am stranded here since March 23. I used to reside in a guest house near the Golden Temple, but since I had no money, the owner refused to accommodate me. The government should at least set up relief camps. Even public toilets have been locked. Therefore, we have no option but to answer the nature’s call in the open,” he said.