After taking into account all suggestions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an extension of the current lockdown till May 3.
As soon as the news about the extension of shutdown spread around, thousands of people from a certain community have thronged the Bandra station in the hope of reaching their homes in far-flung areas.
However, the government is trying its best to provide rudimentary facilities, but hordes of people gathered at the station are protesting against the government and administrations, which led to a clash between protesters and police.
Lockdown has created a stir in Mumbai. Protests by people in Mumbai cause chaos. They have blocked roads and stations, the incident took place at around 4pm, police said.
People have been told to stay at home, but a massive crowd, including women, children, assembled at Mumbai’s Bandra West railway station. In the photo, Bandra station can be seen flooded with a huge crowd gathered. The police requested everyone to go back to their home, but the mob turned down the request.
According to a police official, daily wage earners, numbering around 1,000, accumulated at suburban Bandra (West) bus stand near the railway station and squatted on road at around 3 pm. They were protesting because they want an arrangement of transport facilities so that they can go back to their native towns and villages.
While speaking to the media, one person from the mob said, there is no shortage of food for us in the city, but we are fed up of eating veg pulao for a long time, so we want to eat a wide variety of foods. On this, a media person said that no one is getting a variety of foods in this hard time, and you are demanding a different kind of dishes.
There are thousands of people who are not even getting two-time meals during the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic, which has disturbed the entire world. The government has ensured that no one would go hungry, but these people are protesting just for biryani.
Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said that the government has been able to persuade migrant workers to not go back to their hometowns as they may carry the infection with them.
“These people were hoping to get back home. We have been able to persuade them that they will have to wait as no state borders are open yet. The crowd has been dispersed,” he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah called Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and expressed concern over the gathering, stressing such events weaken the country’s fight against the coronavirus and the administration needs to stay vigilant to avoid such incidents. He also offered his full support to the state government.
The nationwide closure has created a panic situation in the country, especially for homeless people and daily wage workers, who migrate to big cities from their home towns in search of jobs, are combating hunger for survival. They can not even go back to their villages as they are stuck in cities.
