Over 50,000 migrants transported from Nagpur: Collector to HC

Over 50,000 stranded migrants have been transported to their home states from Nagpur since early this month amid the COVID-19 lockdown, the district collector informed the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.

The Nagpur district collector and city police commissioner were responding to a suo moto petition taken up by the high court to highlight the hardships faced by migrants and others due to the lockdown.

The collector, in his affidavit, said persons, who were found walking on highways in order to reach their home states, were intercepted by the police and put in buses arranged by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

"From May 11 to May 21, a total of 9,997 persons left Nagpur in 11 Shramik special trains. From May 7 to May 24, as many as 44,304 persons were taken to the borders of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar in 1,949 MSRTC buses," the collector said.

The affidavit also stated that thousands of ration kits and food kits were distributed to migrants, daily-wagers and needy persons across the district.

A division bench of Justices Ravi Deshpande and Amit Borkar took the affidavit on record and posted the matter for further hearing on June 2.