Battling numerous problems due to lockdown to contain coronavirus spread, migrants workers returning home were further humiliated when they were asked to sit in rows and then sprayed with chemicals in the name of sanitisation at Bareilly bus stand on Sunday.
The workers included men, women and even children.
The shocking Sunday incident came to light when a video went viral on social media on Monday.
As per reports, a large number of migrants, who trudged to Bareilly from Noida and Delhi, were told by officials to sit in rows at Bareilly bus stand and promised that they would be given food, sanitised and transported to their destinations by buses.
One of them, Mohd Afzal, said, “About 50 of us were sitting and waiting for food and bus at the Satellite bus adda when some men in protective suits came and began spraying water on us. They said that they were from sanitisation team and were sanitising us. The children began crying and the women were shocked.”
Sources said that the sanitising team sprayed a diluted mixture of sodium hypochlorite which is a disinfectant and also used as bleaching agent in laundry, textile, detergents and paper and pulp industries.
Afzal, a resident of Shahjahanpur and working as a courier boy in Noida, said that after the spray, children complained of itching in their eyes while some women developed rashes.
“The chemical had a strange smell. After this, most of us left Bareilly and decided to continue our journey on foot,” he said.
Many of those admitted for first aid in hospital were now waiting for administration to make some arrangements so that they could proceed further for their native villages.
Meanwhile, Bareilly District Magistrate Nitish Kumar directed the chief medical officer to provide treatment to those who were sprayed with sodium hypochlorite on Sunday.
In a tweet, Kumar stopped short of apologising and admitted that nagar nigam and fire brigade personnel became over-zealous in their drive and sprayed chemical on the people.
He said that a probe had been ordered and action would be taken against the guilty.
Meanwhile, the apex child rights body, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) demanded disciplinary and penal action against officials responsible for forcefully sanitising a group of migrants with chemicals in Bareilly. It also asked the Bareilly district magistrate to submit a report within three days.
“The NCPCR has taken a serious view of this inhuman act. In view of the incident, you are requested to get the matter probed urgently and issue necessary directions for immediate action thereby, ensuring adequate arrangements of basic essentials to the families viz. provision of food, shelter and safety and well-being of these children of migrant workers during lockdown,” a NCPCR letter to Bareilly district magistrate said.
