Hundreds of migrants gather at Pune-Bengaluru highway, ask for trains to go home

Authorities were trying to convince the migrants that they will be allowed to return to their home states depending on the availability of trains, an official said.

Migrants from Maharashtra arrive by a special train at Prayagraj railway station (Representational image) | PTI

Mumbai: Hundreds of migrant labourers gathered on Pune-Bengaluru Highway in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district on Thursday, demanding special trains to their hometowns in the northern states, police said.

Labourers from Shiroli MIDC, who were stranded since the COVID-19 lockdown was enforced, gathered on the highway to voice their demands, the official said.

As the crowd swelled in the area, the police were deployed to convince the protesting labourers to clear out and subsequently the district collector and police superintendent also reached the spot, he said.

The authorities were trying to convince the migrants that they will be allowed to return to their home states depending on the availability of trains, he added.

Labourers, who were predominantly from Uttar Pradesh, said they wished to head to their hometowns, as they had left their living quarters and did not have work or means to survive the lockdown, the official said.