It was midnight when Bheemendra Nayaka, a migrant worker in Kerala, reached the checkpost in Makkuta on the border of Kerala and Karnataka. By then, he had been on the move for seven hours trudging through forests and walking through empty roads.
Like thousands of migrant labourers across India, Bheemendra was hit by the sudden lockdown announced in the country on Tuesday.
Migrant labourers like him, working in Urathur in Kannur district of Kerala, were left with no work after the nationwide lockdown came into effect on Tuesday. “We are involved in construction work. Some of us use the machines to cut stones, others lift and transport it. We did not know what to do when the lockdown was announced,” 30-year-old Bheemendra told TNM.
“There was confusion after the lockdown was announced and we did not immediately leave for home. We were looking for some kind of transport to take us home,” he said. His home is in Yennekoppa, a village in Soraba taluk in Shivamogga district of Karnataka, which is about 400 kilometres away from Urathur.
But left with no option, he, along with a group of labourers, decided to start their journey by foot around 3 pm on Thursday afternoon. After covering around 20 km, the group reached the Makkuta checkpost in Kodagu district of Karnataka, which is a state border.
The police officials at the checkpost alerted the Kodagu district administration about a group of migrant labourers trying to walk and cross into the state. “We were surprised when we got the call but this is a humanitarian crisis and we had seen the stories of migrant labourers walking long distances,” Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Joy told TNM.
The Kodagu district administration decided to keep all migrant labourers walking into the district sheltered in a school. Currently, 133 migrant labourers, who hail from various districts in central and northern Karnataka, are camped in Kodagu. The people camped there come from Shivamogga, Gadag, Koppal and Haveri, among other districts in Karnataka.
A shelter with bunk beds, was set up at Morarji Desai Residential School in Virajpet taluk of the Kodagu district. “We are checking their travel history and where they have come from. We are also conducting medical checkups,” she said.
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The people sheltered include women and children. “Everybody says you cannot let people into your state. But hundreds of people walk long distances. We need to ensure they are taken care of,” Annies said.
Incidentally, at a press conference on Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan responded to the media reports that said that migrant workers were being forcefully evicted in some places in the state. He said that strict action will be taken against anybody doing so. The CM added that the state government will ensure food and medicine to the migrant labourers.
So far, none of the people staying in Kodagu have shown symptoms and the district administration is working with politicians and district administrations in central and northern Karnataka to arrange transport. “We need to ensure they maintain physical distance so we are in the process of arranging vehicles for them. Until then, we will be taking care of them,” Annies added.