Since Lockdown Began, 198 Migrant Workers Were Killed On The Road, Lockdown 3.0 Saw The Highest
Update: On September 14, the Union Labour Ministry said there is no data on migrant deaths so the "question does not arise" of compensation.?
The ministry was replying to a question on whether families of those who had lost their lives while trying to reach home in the coronavirus lockdown had been compensated.
The nationwide lockdown that began on March 25 triggered one of the biggest human tragedies in our times - the migrant worker crisis.The magnitude of the crisis and the devastating impact of the lockdown began unraveling only after thousands of desperate migrant workers gathered at various state borders to demanding that they should be sent home.?
Since the first weeks of the lockdown, hundreds have been walking home often for days, to reach their homes hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away.While the majority of them made it, others were not so lucky and they fell by the road, due to exhaustion and accidents.?
Around 200 migrant workers lost their lives in road accidents during the lockdown period, with over-speeding of vehicles being one of the main reasons, according to the findings by SaveLIFE Foundation.?
Five states Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana and Maharashtra accounted for the maximum deaths of migrant workers.The top 5 states that reported road crash deaths of migrant workers are Uttar Pradesh (94), Madhya Pradesh (38), Bihar (16), Telangana (11) and Maharashtra (9).?
"Since the lockdown began, nearly 200 migrant workers have lost their lives, while walking, cycling back home, travelling in HMVs (heavy motor vehicles) and LMVs (light motor vehicles)..., and in mass fatality crashes involving state-organized buses. One of the recurring reasons for mass casualties in most of the incidents was speeding and driver fatigue due to continuous driving on tenuous routes," the foundation said.?
Phase 3 reported 60% of all migrant deaths in road crashes during lockdown followed by phase 4 with 19% of total migrant deaths reported in the media.Lockdown 3.0 resulted in the death of 118 migrant workers, while phases one, two and four witnessed 25, 17 and 38 deaths respectively.?
"There were at least 1,461 road crashes over the course of the nationwide lockdown between March 25 and May 31, 2020. At least 750 people were killed including 198 migrant workers headed home. 1,390 persons were reported injured in the crashes. The data has been compiled using media-tracking and multi-source verification," it said.?
The NGO said Uttar Pradesh accounted for over 30 per cent (245) of the total deaths followed by Telangana (56), Madhya Pradesh (56), Bihar (43), Punjab (38) and Maharashtra (36).Further analysis revealed that around 27 per cent of the victims were migrant workers whereas 5 per cent were essential workers like police, doctors and others, it added.
