Mumbai: A crowd of thousands gathered at a bus depot near Bandra railway station on Tuesday afternoon in Bandra (W). A police official said the crowd consisted mainly of migrant workers, who were allegedly protesting the extension of country-wide lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of Coronavirus. Moreover, these protestors were demanding they be allowed to leave for their hometowns and native villages. The crowd was, however, dispersed after two and a half hours, after police intervened and resorted to lathi charge.
A source said, there was a rumour about food packets and essential food grains being distributed to the needy near the railway station, which took a drastic turn when another rumour of long-distance trains were running broke out like wildfire.
According to a police official, daily wage earners assembled near Bandra railway station and squatted on the road at around 3 pm. The migrant workers, who reside in slums in the nearby Patel Nagar locality, were demanding arrangement of transport facilities so that they can go back to their native towns and villages.
The people gathered were mostly labourers who are not able to earn since the government imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25. Earlier, the lockdown was supposed to end on April 14, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday declared that the lockdown has been extended till May 3.
Situation at Bandra station where migrant workers gathered now under control; state will ensure accomodation, food for them: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh
