This UP district bars rent-collecting for a month amid lockdown exodus

In view of the mass exodus of migrant workers owing to the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic, the district administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar has ordered landlords can take rent from tenants only after a month.

No exodus of workers on rent ground will be allowed in present circumstances, according to the order issued by District Magistrate BN Singh.

Meanwhile, the state government has also arranged 1,000 buses for ferrying the migrant labourers stranded on the state’s border districts owing to the lockdown.

An official spokesperson said on Saturday (March 28) transport department officials, bus drivers and conductors were contacted on Friday night to help those stranded in Noida, Ghaziabad, Bulandshahar, Aligarh and other places. He said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also directed officials to arrange for food and water for such people and their families.

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On Saturday morning, senior police officers reached the Charbagh bus station in Lucknow to ensure that those arriving there were provided with food and water. The buses later left for Kanpur, Ballia, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Faizabad, Basti, Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Gonda, Etawah, Bahraich and Shravasti.

The 21-day lockdown imposed from Tuesday midnight in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus has triggered a mass exodus of migrant workers from cities in several states to their villages.

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has also asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) chairman and toll operators to ensure food, water support to migrant workers.

(With inputs from agencies)

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