Coronavirus lockdown: Fare, schedule mess leave many stranded

Chaos reined at the Kempegowda Bus Station in Majestic on Saturday even after the government rolled back its decision to charge over 300% of the regular fare from migrant workers returning to their hometowns. Thousands of people were stranded as the KSRTC cut down operations at night.

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Ever since the government announced that migrant workers could go home, a steady stream of labourers is reaching the station. Deputy commissioners have been hiring KSRTC buses on contract for the past one week to transport migrants free of cost. The programme was stopped on Friday as migrant workers were told to pay for their travel.

For more than 2,000 people, most of them migrant workers, who rushed to Majestic to catch a bus home, the news that they have to pay three times the normal fare came as a rude shock.

Similarly, the state government has decided to write to the Centre on categorising Bengaluru Rural as a red zone, Ashoka said. “I am the Bengaluru Rural district in-charge minister. There isn’t a single Covid-19 case there. All major industries are located in this region — Nelamangala, Hoskote, Doddaballapur and so on,” he said.

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“Although marked as red, Bengaluru Rural will have to come under orange. All industries in the district have been allowed to start operations with 30% strength,” he said.

To prevent an exodus of migrant workers, the government has decided to permit cement factories, steel units, stone crushers, shops selling electrical goods, sanitary products and construction-related items, Ashoka said.

“If migrant workers leave at once, it will create a huge gap in Bengaluru. We want to prevent that,” he said.