As Covid-19 roars back in India, migrant workers who had just started to resettle in the cities they left during last year’s outbreak are packing up to return to their villages again.
Mumbai and its state of Maharashtra are at the center of the fastest-growing outbreak in the world, with more than 150,000 new cases a day across India. The western state has imposed nighttime curfews and shut down malls, eateries, bars and places of worship.
A complete lockdown, with most people required to stay at home, could be coming soon, said Rajesh Tope, the health minister for the state.
The trains going to the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the biggest sources of migrant workers, have been leaving Mumbai packed without even much room to stand, said Sanjay Kumar, a security guard of the Railway Protection Force who is in charge of crowd management.
“There’s been a huge rush,” he said. “People are trying to get out because they’re worried the government will stop the trains again.”