At railways in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in India by coronavirus outbreak, the scenes of migrant workers carrying their luggage and looking for a spot in crowded trains are a common sight. While some of those began to flee last week, Friday's order to close down establishments triggered an exodus and an unlikely rush at railways stations.
Trains departing for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, states from where most of the migrant workforce is supplied to Mumbai and Pune, are most sought-after.
At Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai, one of the busiest railway stations in the city and the country, a heavy crowd was witnessed on Saturday.
A passenger, who failed to find his reserved seat, said, "There are so many people on trains that I didn't get a seat despite having a confirmed ticket. My parents have asked me to return because of coronavirus."
Thousands of workers in the unorganised sector, including daily-wage labourers, auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers from UP and Bihar in Mumbai and Pune, worst-hit cities by coronavirus.
As the number of confirmed cases in Maharashtra rose to 53 on Saturday, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation area near Pune had 11 confirmed patients, Mumbai nine and Pune city eight.
The overcrowding of trains also goes against the government's advisory on 'social distancing'.
This came as Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Pravin Pardeshi on Friday ordered the immediate closure of schools, cinema halls, malls, gyms, swimming pools, pubs, discotheques, amusement parks, and banned public functions.
Restaurants, dhabas, cafes and other eateries can continue to operate if they can self-impose 50% customer capacity and maintain a distance of 3 feet between two customers, the order by BMC Commissioner said.
All "private, corporate establishments" are to be shut down, the order said.
The order has exempted establishments or firms providing essential services such as drinking water, electricity, banking, sewerage, healthcare, media, port, telecom, vendors of food, groceries and vegetables, petrol pumps, IT services, data centres, e-commerce of essential items including food, among others.
Meanwhile, the cancellation of trains by the Railways has made it difficult for those wishing to return to their hometowns. Railways on Friday cancelled 90 trains, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the novel coronavirus pandemic, taking the total number of cancelled trains to 245.
The Railways has said no train will start its journey from midnight to 10 pm on Sunday in view of 'Janata Curfew' called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The cases of positive novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 258, including four deaths on Saturday, according to the Union Health Ministry.
