'Deploy Defence personnel, vehicle to evacuate migrant labourer'

Bengaluru: A leader of Janata Dal (Secular), headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, on Sunday requested the government to deploy defence personnel along with vehicles to evacuate stranded persons from the cities to their villages.

B M Farookh, also a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, said people returning to their villages from cities along the highways would end up in human suffering and disaster, “much dangerous than the impact of coronavirus.”

He said people from lower strata of society have started walking down long distances to their villages as the public transportation stands suspended.

“Most of them do not have much resources to support themselves and may end up in collapsing on the way back without food or drinking water,” he said in a letter to the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister.

“This situation could be averted by deploying defence personnel with vehicle to reach them safely to their destination and since the defence is well equipped with the logistics and trained personnel in war-like situation, safety could be ensured for them as well as to the commuters,” Farookh added.