UP govt auctions migrant workers' bicycles left behind in lockdown for over Rs 21 lakh

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New Delhi:  The Saharanpur district administration on Saturday (June 4) auctioned 5,400 bicycles which were left behind by migrant workers when they were rushing to their native places during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. A total of ₹21.2 lakh was produced by auction of these bicycles, said Kinshuk Srivastava, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Sadar, as per media reports.

After the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world and countries imposed complete lockdown, nearly 25,000 migrant workers reached Saharanpur on bicycles to return to their native places in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as Saharanpur district is the gateway to Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

When the migrant labourers reached Saharanpur, they were stopped and quarantined in Radha Swami Satsang enclosures and sent to their native places in buses with the administration handing them tokens to collect their bicycles later.

At least 5400 bicycles belonging to migrant labourers who had set off for their respective hometowns during Covid lockdown was auctioned by the local admin in UP's Saharanpur. They had left the bicycles after govt made arrangements via bus and train to drop them. pic.twitter.com/IGdWV6pz56 — Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) June 5, 2022

While 14,600 labourers later returned to Saharanpur and collected their bicycles but 5,400 bicycles lied in open grouds for 2 years and got rusted and hence the administration decided to auction the bicycles.