Young migrant workers leave Vijayawada on bicycles to reach hometown in Odisha

VISAKHAPATNAM: Tired of the long wait due to the extended Covid-19-induced lockdown and feeling homesick to say the least, a group of migrant workers in Vijayawada decided to hit the NH-16 on bicycles to reach their hometown Jagatsinghpur in Odisha.
Keeping in view the long distance (roughly 850km), the group of youngsters took the decision to leave Vijayawada after the second lockdown extension was announced.
“We reached the conclusion that there was no point in staying back in Vijayawada. We were longing to be with our parents,” Said Subhrantha Panda, who was the one, who came up with the idea to buy second-hand bicycles.
Panda noted that the lack of regular means of transport had created a demand for used bicycles in Vijayawada and neighbouring areas, where there were a lot of migrant workers stuck and he and his group actually bought their bicycles from a dealer who lived near the hotel where he worked.
Braving the heat, the group of ten from Jhankeshwar in Jagatsinghpur district set for their long journey on Monday evening and have been on the road ever since.
Luckily, almost all of them speak Telugu and understand the language. Moreover, they found strength in numbers, encouraging one another to go the extra mile.
Badal, one of the group members, said, “Our main worry was finding food and water. However, many strangers helped us out, providing us the much-needed nourishment. In many places, policemen on duty were kind enough to give us food packets and even water pouches, which were provided by the locals. So far, the journey has been tough but not rough.”
However, there is one problem the group of cyclists are aware of- to keep their phones charged.
“We are seeking help from locals, especially from those working at fuel stations to keep our phone batteries charge.”
Workers at fuel stations are also providing them drinking water to keep them going.
Keeping the scorching summer heat in mind, the group cycles from 4am to 12pm and again from 4pm till late in the night.
However, they are worried about their fate and do fear that they could either get stuck at a border post or land in a quarantine centre somewhere far away from home.
“Though we have hit the road to take this long journey, we know that we could well end up in any of the quarantine centres in either Vizianagaram or Srikakulam districts or for that matter get stuck at the Odisha border,” Panda says.