Cops, civic officers attempt to dispel hearsay as migrant employees ‘start leaving Surat’

TO AVOID a panic-like scenario amongst migrants after town imposed strict curbs following a current rise in Covid-19 circumstances, the Surat metropolis police has been deployed at labour colonies to dispel rumours.
On Monday night, when officers of Pandesara police station reached Ganeshnagar society within the metropolis, it discovered folks attempting to board onto 10 buses parked within the space, with most prepared to pay the next fare to return to their native states.
“We talked to the passengers and they told us that they are going back to their native place to celebrate Holi and attend marriages of their relatives. Though it is a routine during the festival, we have started working on ways to create awareness among the migrant workers. We are sending our police teams to different factories, where policemenexplain to labourers that there is nothing to worry about and no lockdown will be imposed in the coming days,” Pandesarea police inspector A P Chaudhary mentioned.
Surat metropolis, which has been reporting over 400 circumstances in a single day since this week, has made a seven-day quarantine obligatory for these coming in from different states.
The Surat Municipal Corporation has additionally decreased the work hour at textile factories on weekdays and has requested them to stay closed on weekends.
Sachin Industrial Cooperative Society chief Mahendra Ramolia mentioned, “There was rumour earlier (about a possible lockdown) but now people have started to understand. There are 2,500 factories in the Sachin area and we have sent messages to the contractors and factory owners to create awareness among workers that this time there will be no lockdown and everyone is safe here. I have got over hundred labourers working in my firm and of them around 20 have left for their native places to celebrate Holi. These workers, however, had intimated me last month itself and also booked their tickets.”
Textile employees often go away for his or her dwelling states every week earlier than Holi and return in a month’s time, mentioned Yujuvendra Dubey, a social employee who runs a Hindi-medium college.
On March 20, BJP state president CR Paatil, who belongs to Surat, had, in an announcement, assured that Surat was secure and that folks shouldn’t consider any rumours. Paatil termed talks of a lockdown as “mere rumour”, and appealed that no labourer ought to go away the state.
“The Gujarat government and municipal corporations are more competent to prevent further infections. It has come to our notice that in Surat city, some notorious people are creating fear among the labourers in the industrial areas, and putting pressure on them to go back to their native places. It is not like that, as Surat is safe,” Paatil had mentioned within the launch.

BJP councillor from ward quantity 29, Banshi Yadav, mentioned, “Earlier luxury buses were seen standing outside the city, but since the last two days they are seen in the residential areas. These buses are carrying passengers from Surat to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. We have come to know that the travel operators are spreading rumours and sending their agents to different residential societies in the Pandesara area, which is dominated by migrant workers of UP, Bihar and other states, working mostly in textile factories. These agents tell them that after a few days, lockdown will be imposed in the city. We are making all our efforts to stop such migration.”
Yadav alleged that after the police had been stationed in Ganeshnagar, the bus operators had made preparations for autorickshaws to carry labourers from the Ganeshnagar space to the Sachin space, the place the buses are parked.“The travel fare from Surat to UP is around Rs 800 to 900, but these bus operators are charging migrant workers Rs 2,000. For a journey to Bihar, they are charging Rs 2,500,” Yadav mentioned.
BJP councillor from Pandesara ward Reena Singh Rajput’s husband Ajit mentioned, “Since the last two days, we are roaming in different parts of Sachin and Pandesara to stop migrant workers from returning to their native places. While every year, during Holi, they visit their native places, the rumours about a possible lockdown had an effect the migrant population. Many have already left and more are preparing to leave. Now, along with the local area ward presidents, we are visiting the labour colonies to assure migrants that Surat city is safe.”
The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) leaders had Wednesday handed over a memorandum to Surat District Collector Dr Dhaval Patel, requesting him to take proactive steps to stop migration of labourers from totally different industries in Surat metropolis.
General Secretary INTUC, Kamran Usmani, within the memorandum mentioned, “Since the last few days, there is a rise seen in the number of positive cases of corona in Surat city, which is dangerous. Due to such rise, different restrictions have been laid by the police, and municipal authorities. Such restrictions had left a fearful effect on the labourers working in the industries and they are afraid a lockdown would be imposed again. Keeping this in mind, the migrant workers, hailing from UP and Bihar, are leaving Surat city with their families.”
They urged that the two-day closure of the textile buying and selling market ought to be decreased to in the future, and the market ought to stay open on Monday.