Air bottles drive migrants home

PATNER: The train is coming. The platform swells. Migrant families from Bihar arrive at Patna Junction carrying bedding, steel containers, plastic bags – returning from cities where they cannot afford to cook. A look of exhaustion on the face and a decision driven by an air bottle, and a decision to find a flame that cost less than a day’s wage. Liquefied petroleum gas shortage.“The LPG supplier charges Rs 500 per kg. It lasts for two days,” said Manoj, a construction worker from Punpun in Patna district who came here from New Delhi with his wife and two children. “We can’t continue.”Ramu, a factory worker in Chennai bound for Sahasa, did the math. “The cost of gas to cook a meal is two days’ wages. It is better to be unemployed at home than to go hungry in a big city. “Officials said about 2,500 workers have returned so far, many citing the increased cost of cooking gas. Bihar has an estimated 4.8 million migrants working in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai. The labor ministry team has started a Panchayat-level investigation to trace the returns.The Magadh Express from New Delhi arrived around 12:30 pm on Tuesday, sending a large number of workers home. At 2:20 p.m., the Brahmaputra Post brought another wave. Azimabad Express from Gujarat. Ernakulam Express from the south. Each arrival exacerbated the churn.Danapur reflects this traffic – the Sanghamitra Express from Bengaluru, the Udhna Express from Gujarat – offloading passengers who have been put out of work by soaring fuel costs.Many of the returnees came from Sivan, Gopalganj, Madhubani, Darbhanga and Sahasa. The jobs left behind are on construction sites, factories, housing estates and housing estates. Sonu, a security guard in Noida who earns Rs 6,000 a month, said his options ran out when his cylinder ran empty. “We ate on the streets for several days. Coal or wood were not allowed in residential areas,” he said.Nishi Devi, a domestic help who returns to Bhojpur with her three children, counts the days until a proper meal. “Employers helped at first. Then they faced the same crisis. We couldn’t pay black market prices and rent. At home, I would cook with cow dung cakes,” she said.Trains kept arriving. Bikash, a porter who has worked at the station for 12 years, has seen changes in passenger flow. “It’s not like the peak of the pandemic, but the numbers are rising over the past two weeks,” he said.