IN the wee hours of May 7, the unusual foggy dawn surprised people living around the LG Polymers India Ltd plant in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. They were caught unawares by the pungent odour and breathlessness. People came out of their homes and ran helter-skelter, with many of them falling unconscious and collapsing on roads. It was a run for survival for many as panic gripped the area. Twelve people died in the gas leak.

AS per the call given by the CPI(M) state committee in Tamil Nadu, the district committees along with other mass organisations have provided essential items to the needy people affected by the sudden imposition of lockdown by the BJP-led central government. The Party members have also interacted with the local administration and ensured that the relief items provided by the state government are reaching the beneficiaries in time.

IT is well established that Bihar has a long history of migration of labourers in large numbers and the intensifying agrarian crisis has contributed to increased migration from the state to all parts of the  country and abroad. Soon after the announcement of the coronavirus lockdown, industries, factories and shops across the country were shut down and the migrant workers were forced to return to their state.

WHILE Tripura is under a lockdown to combat the coronavirus, some parts of the northeastern state were devastated by gale and unprecedented hailstorm. One of the worst affected areas was Jampaijala sub-division of Sepahijala district. This sub-division is largely tribal populated and its headquarters is 50 km from the state capital, Agartala.

SOON AFTER the lockdown was declared on March 24, here in Delhi we were informed by the West Bengal state leadership of the CPI(M) that a large number of migrant workerswere making distress calls to their contacts in the Partyback home and seeking help. In consultation with comrades in West Bengal, it was decided that contacts of our trade union leaders in Delhi would be passed onto the workers in distress. Within two days, the numbers were shared amonghundreds of workers who in turn passed them on to their colleagues from other states, similarly strandedin Delhi.