Visakhapatnam: 10,000 migrant workers stranded in city

Visakhapatnam: Along with combating a battle against Covid-19, facilitating food and shelter to thousands of migrant workers turn out to be a laborious exercise for the district administration.

Daily wage workers from various states across the country moved to Visakhapatnam in search of better livelihood. However, close to 10,000 workers were stuck in Visakhapatnam ever since the nationwide lockdown came into effect.

Though they are being sheltered and provided with food, several migrant workers and daily wagers stare at an uncertain future as many of them have lost jobs as construction work has come to a standstill. All they hope is to reach their native place and connect with their families.

Apart from the government extending support to the migrant workers, an army of NGO representatives reach out to those, who have been stuck at the construction sites by supplying food packets to them. According to the statistics, there are 9,435 migrant workers employed in the port city and majority of them work in construction field.

The recent survey done by the district officials reveal that a majority of migrant workers is from Odisha constituting 5,837 followed by 1,055 from Bihar, 1,035 from Jharkhand, 736 from West Bengal, 328 from Uttar Pradesh, while the rest belongs to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

At present, about 1,800 are staying at GVMC shelters and the rest in temporary shelters. The district administration ensures to provide shelter and food to the migrants.

However, it is a daunting task for the authorities to cater to thousands of migrant workers for months. District Collector V Vinay Chand said that 9,435 migrant workers belonging to various states have been supplied with essential commodities during the lockdown.

Despite the government and the NGOs reaching out to the migrant workers in the best possible manner, those who arrived from other states have been waiting to reach their hometowns even if it costs trekking hundreds of kilometers.

This has eventually turned out to be a challenging exercise for district authorities as many are escaping from shelter homes with a hope to reach their native places. Redirecting them back to temporary shelters and ensuring supply of food to them has become an arduous process for the authorities concerned.