A 38-year-old man who had walked over 200 km from Delhi to reach his hometown in Madhya Pradesh, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of a 21-day lockdown to curb the coronavirus outbreak, died on the way.
Ranveer Singh worked as a delivery agent for a private restaurant in the national capital.
He was one of the thousands of migrant workers worst-hit with the sudden announcement of a nationwide lockdown. The announcement has left the daily-wage earners jobless and shelterless.
At a time when restrictions have been placed on public transport and states have sealed their borders to mitigate the transmission of the virus, these migrant workers have taken upon themselves the arduous task of covering a journey of hundreds of kilometres on foot.
Ranveer had started walking to his village in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena which is around 326 km from Delhi.
Reportedly, he was still 100 km away when he complained of chest pain and collapsed. Sanjay Gupta, a local hardware store owner, on witnessing Ranveer’s plight rushed for help.
‘Gupta made the victim lie down on a carpet and offered him tea and biscuit. The victim complained about chest pain and also called his brother-in-law Arvind Singh over phone to share his health condition. At around 6.30 pm, the victim passed away and local police was informed,’ said Arvind Kumar, Sikandra Station House Officer (SHO).
Singh had left for his native village, on Friday, March 27, on foot. The exhaustion from covering such a long distance on foot could have lead to his chest pain.
‘On the entire NH-2 stretch, UP policemen are present with food packets and water for such persons but Ranveer’s death is unfortunate,’ the SHO said.
The government has come under the fire on an unanticipated and ill-planned announcement on lockdown leaving millions stranded and triggering panic about access to food and basic necessities.
However, the government authorities brushed aside the allegations and are of the opinion that the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been ‘pre-emptive, pro-active and graded,’ reported NDTV.
Also Read: Violating Lockdown Is ‘Playing With Your Life’: PM Modi Warns People On ‘Mann Ki Baat’
