Several people from other States who are working here came out to the streets on Tuesday demanding facilities to return to their home States. According to Sanjay, one of the workers, they live in and around Sivanandha Colony and work as painters, carpenters, at construction sites, etc. They had received food three times a day during the lockdown
. “We have other problems - we do not have work. We have to pay rent. Four or five of us live in one room and the rent is ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 a month. We are unable to buy LPG cylinder to cook food. So we want to go home,” he said.
The workers are from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, etc.
A police team led by C. Karthikeyan, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Coimbatore central), held talks with the guest workers and pacified them.
“We made them understand that it was the Central Government that allots special train for workers who want to return to their homes States. We asked them to wait till such trains are allotted for Coimbatore,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Revenue Department officials in the district are collecting details of migrant workers who want to return home. The details are expected to be finalised in a couple of days.