Kamal Ghorui
PATNA: Trains rolled in. Platforms swelled. Migrant families from Bihar stepped down at Patna Junction with bedding, steel containers, plastic sacks – returning from cities where cooking has become unaffordable. Faces carried fatigue and a decision driven by empty cylinders and the search for a flame that costs less than a day’s wage. LPG shortage bites.“LPG vendors are charging Rs 500 a kg. It lasts two days,” said Manoj, a construction worker from Punpun in Patna district who arrived from New Delhi with his wife and two children. “We could not continue.”Ramu, a Chennai factory worker bound for Saharsa, did the maths. “Two days’ wages for gas to cook one meal. Better unemployed at home than starving in a big city.”Officials said around 2,500 workers have returned so far, many citing cooking gas costs. Bihar has an estimated 48 lakh migrants working across Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Labour department teams have begun panchayat-level surveys to track returns.Magadh Express from New Delhi pulled in around 12.30pm Tuesday to a surge of workers heading home. By 2.20pm, Brahmaputra Mail brought another wave. Azimabad Express from Gujarat. Ernakulam Express from the south. Each arrival added to the churn.Danapur mirrored the flow – Sanghamitra Express from Bengaluru, Udhna Express from Gujarat – unloading passengers who have walked away from jobs as fuel costs spike.Many returnees hail from Siwan, Gopalganj, Madhubani, Darbhanga and Saharsa. Work left behind spans construction sites, factories, dhabas and housing complexes. Sonu, a security guard in Noida earning Rs 6,000 a month, said options ran out when his cylinder emptied. “We ate on the streets for a few days. Coal or wood not allowed in residential area,” he said.Nishi Devi, a domestic help returning to Bhojpur with three children, counted days since a proper meal. “The employer helped at first. Then they faced the same crisis. We cannot pay black-market rates and rent. At home, I will cook on cow dung cakes,” she said.Trains kept arriving. Bikash, a porter with 12 years at the station, saw the shift in footfall. “Not like pandemic rush, but numbers are rising the past two weeks,” he said.
