Migrant labourers rush to UP in packed trains over rising Covid cases in Maharashtra

The rising Covid cases in Maharashtra have instilled fear into the labourers that the state may get into another lockdown. Fearing job losses and no transport home, the migrants rushed to their home towns in UP.

Amid a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, many migrant labourers are coming from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh in packed trains. Fearing a lockdown in Maharashtra, trains packed with people are arriving at stations in Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Lucknow. The Railways have run some special trains seeing the increase in the number of passengers, but Central Railway under which Maharashtra belongs has made it clear that these are all special trains and not run for labour-specific purposes.