Thousands of migrant workers gather in Dharavi hoping to catch a ride back home

Thousands of stranded migrant workers gathered in the Dharavi area of Mumbai on Thursday flouting social distancing norms hoping to catch a ride back home amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown.

People gathered in the area to catch a bus to the railway station, from where they are to board Shramik special trains being run to transport them back home.

"We have gathered here to board buses to the railway stations from where trains are being run to our home states. Many of us have already filled the forms for the bus. They told us to wait for the bus to railway stations," Noor Mohd, a migrant worker, who has been living in Dharavi for the past 35 years told ANI here.

According to the locals, migrants gather here every day to board buses to different railway stations from where trains are being run to transport them to their states.

"Thousands of people are waiting here to go back to their homes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar here. They have been standing in line here since the morning. However, the police officers asked them to go back. They said that the train is not scheduled for today," Mohd Shami, a Dharavi local, said.

This comes as Dharavi, Asia's largest slum area, has reported 1,639 cases, including 61 deaths so far. Notably, Maharashtra is the state worst-affected by the coronavirus with at least 56,948.

"I have been standing here since 6 am waiting to go back to my home state Bihar. However, we have just been told that the train is not scheduled for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar today," another migrant worker, Sajjan, said.

More and more people from Dharavi area are heading back to their homes due to the ongoing crisis in the city. Presently, the total positive cases in Mumbai have climbed to 33,835. 

-ANI

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