DN&V Correspondent
New Delhi, April 29: Even as around 1,840 new cases and 69 fatalities were reported across India on Tuesday, the total number of confirmed cases have jumped to 31,317 and fatalities past the grim mark of 1,000. Maharashtra recorded the most fatalities at 31, followed by Gujarat (19), Madhya Pradesh (10) and Uttar Pradesh (3).
In Gujarat’s industrial town of Surat, irate migrant workers resorted to violence in two separate incidents at the under-construction Diamond Bourse’s sites in Khajod and Dindoli. In Khajod, over 1,000 construction workers ransacked the Diamond Bourse office, shattered the glass doors, damaged the furniture and computers in the office. The cars parked outside the site office were also damaged.
“The workers were angry as the project developers had brought 40 labourers from outside. The labourers feared that they could get coronavirus infection from the outsiders. They also feared that the new workers would take away their job,” said a police officer at Khatodara police station. At least 11 persons were booked for rioting and arrested. Police also registered a separate offence against the SDB project developer for bringing labourers from outside, which is in violation of the lockdown rule. In Dindoli, violence broke out when police tried to disperse a crowd that had gathered at a vegetable market.
The Uttar Pradesh government’s helpline for migrant workers in Maharashtra received nearly 100,000 calls seeking evacuation. A rough estimate based on the number of calls and the accounts of callers suggests the state could be staring at the task of evacuating nearly a million migrant workers from Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the Delhi National Capital Region alone. The UP government Tuesday asked all states to share data on migrants from the state staying at shelter homes and quarantine facilities for over 14 days and have tested negative for Covid-19 so that they can be brought back.
India’s armed forces are keeping some of their large warships and transport aircraft on stand-by if the government directs mass evacuation of Indians from the Gulf region, reports TOI. “There are no explicit orders as yet but the warships and aircraft are being kept ready if the government decides to deploy them for evacuation. Similar is the case for Air India planes,” the report quoted an officer as saying.
