Buses waiting at Delhi's border depart packed; migrants complain of high ticket prices

Amid the ongoing Coronavirus lockdown in the country, buses carrying stranded migrants left for various states from Delhi-Ghazipur border on Wednesday night. The buses ferrying the passengers that have been stationed at Delhi-Noida and Delhi-Ghazipur borders to ferry migrants stranded in the national capital to their homes are bound for Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal.

The buses have been given the approval to operate by the Delhi government and have the Delhi government's passes.

READ | Uttar Pradesh: Over 1000 migrants returning from other states test positive for COVID-19

The passengers travelling on the buses, however, complained of exorbitant ticket prices. On of the passenger, Ramdev Sharma said, "I am going to Jharkhand and have paid Rs 4,000 as bus charge."

Meanwhile, the driver of a bus also informed that more migrants have boarded the bus than required according to norms of social distancing. He also said he hasn't received any information about how many people can board the bus.

"I think more people have boarded the bus than required according to norms of social distancing. I have not yet received instructions on how many people can board the bus. When I get it, I will accordingly ask some of them to get down", the driver Santosh said.

READ | Uttrakhand HC directs State to quarantine migrants from red zones for a week

Migrants Register On Delhi Govt E-portal To Return Home

Around 4 lakh migrants have registered on the Delhi government's e-portal to travel to their home states and the administration has arranged transport for 65,000 of them so far. Around 25 trains left for different states on Wednesday, carrying 37,500 migrants back to their home towns, with 11 trains each being sent to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

“Around 4 lakh people have registered on the Delhi government's e-portal to go back to their native states from Delhi, and transportation has been arranged for around 65,000 migrants until now,” a government statement said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has also written a letter to the Ministry of Railways, requesting it to arrange 262 trains to send migrants home in the next four days. "Around 65,000 people have been sent back. We are also seeking permission from other states. As soon as we get it, we are sanctioning trains for those states," he said.

On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to increase the number of migrant trains from Delhi.

The fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown began on Monday. The Centre issued a notification in this regard on Sunday, extending the curbs for two more weeks, till May 31.

READ | Couldn't leave anyone to die in other states: HP CM on returning migrants

READ | 'Important decisions focused on migrants, poor taken in Cabinet meeting': PM Modi

(With agency inputs)