Several migrant workers gathered on Pune-Bengaluru Highway in Maharashtra''s Kolhapur district on Thursday, demanding authorities to arrange trains to send them back to their natives, police said. Due to lockdown these migrant workers are left with no work and cannot survive the lockdown without food.
Labourers from Shiroli MIDC, who were stranded since the COVID-19 lockdown was enforced, gathered on the highway to voice their demands, the official said.
As the crowd got bigger in numbers, the police were deployed to convince the protesting workers to clear out and soon the district collector and police superintendent also reached the spot, he said.
The authorities tried to convince the migrants that they will be allowed to return to their home states depending on the availability of trains, he added.
The police managed to shift more than 400 labourers to a shelter home, a senior officer said.
"We have arranged for accommodation and food for them. They will be sent to their home states as and when trains are announced by following proper procedure," he said.