Even Mumbai cabbies begin to desert the city

Nagpur: Nagpur is being witness to the exodus that may leave Mumbai and Pune drained of not only the labour force but also short of cabs and autorickshaws that are their lifeline.
Since more than a fortnight, trucks, buses to even small pick-up vans jam-packed with labourers from Mumbai are passing through Nagpur from Amravati side. Amid the traffic, even the black and yellow taxis from Mumbai could be seen passing. The cabbies are driving to their native places along with their families.
Witnesses and volunteers said innumerable taxies and auto rickshaws may have passed through the toll booth over 20 km from the city on the Nagpur-Amravati highway. The taxi and auto drivers are mainly heading towards UP and Bihar and the labourers going to West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, they said.
TOI travelled along the highway for two days to find labourers fleeing not only from Mumbai but also Pune and Surat in Gujarat. Taxis were also spotted.
Volunteers offering food and water at the toll gate said there is no count. A number of taxis have passed while the workers must be in tens of thousands till now. “We feed them every day,” said a volunteer.
“Saara Bambai khalee ho raha hai. Rickshe, taxiwale sab ja rahein hain,” said Pawan Mali (entire Mumbai is being emptied. Rickshaw and taxi drivers all are going). Mali was driving a SUV, with around six people including two women going to Mirzapur in UP. They were all of the same family. The men were skilled construction workers.
“We had managed to buy the vehicle a year ago with our savings. It was kept in the village. With no other means, a relative drove it down to Mumbai and now we are heading back home in it,” he said.
“Now there is nothing left, times were tough even before corona this year,” said one of them. In the meantime some more vehicles zoomed past.
A truck with a Gujarat number plate followed. There were 48 workers from Odisha. The journey cost them Rs 2 lakh, each one paid Rs 4000 odd.
“What else could we do? There is no work and no wages. We can’t carry on in Surat,” said Avkash Jena, one of them. Jena said they all worked for a carton-making factory. There were no benefits like PF, he said. Workers are fleeing from other towns of Gujarat too, said the helper in the bus.
A pick-up van stuffed with nearly 50 passengers including women and children stopped as the volunteers offered food.
“The landlords were insisting for rent. We left before the matter worsened,” said Taufiq, one of the passengers. The group was going to Bokaro from Mumbai.
Another bus that followed carried factory employees from Nagpur, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. “We pooled money and hired the bus, they worked for Varrocc Group in Pune,” said Sunil Dhanorkar from the city.