CHENNAI: Anand Haripal and 11 of his friends had set out nine days ago from Chengalpet on bicycles for Bolangir in Odisha, some 1,039km away from the city.
On Tuesday, they reached till Gummidipoondi when the police beat them up and chased them away. The incident has forced Anand and his friends to behave like fugitives on the run. They sleep under trees and on farmlands, and take rural routes pedalling bicycles loaded with LPG cylinders, utensils, stoves and other belongings.
“The police try to stop us from leaving but they have no solution to offer. We have set out on this journey after two failed trips to the MGR Central to board trains,” said Haripal who has lost his job as a construction worker.
Cooking under the shade of a tree by the GNT Road, Haripal said, “Going back from the railway station was difficult at night. So we slept there. We used our savings, stocked up and began this trip.”
If Haripal had no clue about a train, Jamman Sankar and his family missed it for turning up late at a government shelter. Sankar said he did not have a phone to be in touch with other guest workers from Odisha. “An official gave a slip and told us to go to Padiyanallur. When I reached the shelter, I was told that we missed the train by an hour,” said Sankar of Cuttack. He along with his wife, six children and their daughter-in-law have been working at a construction site near Madhavaram.
A drive along Grand Northern Trunk Road sums up the helplessness of hundreds of guest workers. An arterial stretch that sees constant movement of heavy vehicles, the highway has guest workers walking, cycling and resting. Officials said at least 3,000 to 4,000 workers along with family members, including children, are walking along the stretch every day. But officials do not allow them to proceed. Every two kilometres, police have set up temporary checkposts to shift the workers to nearby shelters.
Somewhere on the road TOI met Gokul Ram and Vignesh Yadav from Jharkhand’s Palamu district. The two have embarked on a 1,780km journey. “We are planning to cover around 120km a day on cycles. If no one stops us, we may reach home by the end of this month,” said Gokul.
Another group heading to Madhya Pradesh said they are trying to avoid the police. “We are not sure when they will send us home. So we don’t want to waste our time here,” said Viju Ram from MP. He and his three friends are cycling after sunset.
Those who are caught by police are moved to shelters arranged in Red Hills, Padiyanallur, Alamathi, Ponneri and Minnur. Revenue and health officials screen and group them, and give them badges.
“The details of the workers are sent to the collector. We send them when we receive information about trains,” said a revenue official in the Padiyanallur shelter where around 1,500 guest workers have been accommodated.
Amid the confusion, Sonu Balu from UP has some clarity. He was among the 150-odd workers seated in two government buses. “We waited for two months and began to walk home. We were brought to the shelter and are happy that we are going home finally,” Sonu said.
But unlike Sonu, thousands are still stranded on the road, robbed of jobs, livelihood and their dignity.
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