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Migrant workers block section of highway near

Maharashtra-MP border
PTI | May 12, 2020, 06.46 PM IST

BARWANI: Hundreds of migrant workers on Tuesday briefly blocked a

section of the Mumbai-Agra national highway here on the Madhya
Pradesh-Maharashtra border alleging mismanagement by authorities in
arranging transport. A senior official said the government has arranged
buses to shift migrants who are arriving in the inter-state border town from
Maharashtra and other areas.

While a bulk of these migrants are on their way to their home states in
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, many belonged to various districts in Madhya
Pradesh.

Eye-witnesses said a large number of vehicles queued up on both sides of

the road due to the blockade in afternoon, which was cleared later.

Gangadhar, one of the migrants coming from Maharashtra, said Barwani administration had promised to drop people up to the
UP border, but no arrangement was seen on the ground, prompting people to block vehicular traffic on the highway.

On the other hand, district panchayat CEO Manoj Sareyam said nearly 100 buses were arranged for dropping migrants to the
UP border.

"We have also arranged for their food and water," he said, adding that desperation and lack of awareness among migrant

workers is creating problems.

According to eye-witnesses, several migrants were seen sitting on roofs of buses.

When asked about crowding on buses, Sareyam denied any knowledge.

Meanwhile, the state government has issued directives to all the bordering districts to arrange buses for ferrying migrants to
the UP border.

"The state government has made arrangements for temporary stay, food, drinking water, first-aid and medicines for all those
workers walking down to the border districts of Madhya Pradesh from different states," a public relations department official
said in Bhopal.

He said 375 more buses have been arranged to transport the migrants to their respective districts in the state and for those to
the inter-state borders.

From various transit points, migrant workers will be transported to their hometowns or villages (in MP) with the help of local
administration, he said, adding that similarly various routes are finalised for migrants from UP.