Bengaluru Bus Stands Crowded as Workers Decide to Visit Hometown Over Lockdown

At least 4 lakh passengers have left Bengaluru by bus and another two lakh are still waiting in various bus stations to go back to their hometowns, an official of the Karnataka Transport Department said on Friday. The crowd was so huge that buses ran full capacity, with 3 lakh people left using RTC buses and more than a lakh using private transport.

The transport officials were constantly urging people using loudspeakers to follow Covid-19 rules by wearing masks and maintaining social distance. A common sight at bus stands is of labour contractors trying their best to persuade workers not to leave.

"Even though some labour contractors have succeeded in retaining few workers with them, but large segments of the blue-collar workforce remained firm on their decision to leave Bengaluru," a traffic officer told.

Most migrant workers at construction sites live in makeshift sheds, provided with bare minimum facilities, and as these are congested, it is very easy for the deadly virus to spread here.

After a person working in the construction sector died due to corona and his wife was in hospital leaving their children in a clueless situation, their plight has left many workers in fear of facing similar eventualities and hence prompting them to leave the State.