Unwanted Visitors from Famine Land

Anil Awachat OUTSIDE the third class waiting room of Poona railway station is a big open yard. For the last three months it has been occupied by about 200 families at a time, living in the open. The men wear big turbans and the women wear sarees in a manner which distinguishes them from the permanent pavement- dwellers of the city. Every train that comes in from the Sholapur region unloads a fresh batch of these immigrants who troop out of the station carrying big bundles on their heads. These are Visitors' to Poona, mainly from the famine-stricken districts of Sholapur, Osmanabad and Bhir. Some settle down temporarily on the pavement opposite the ST bus stand; others trek to the industrial belt around the city. The biggest of their numerous settlements in and around the city is about three miles from Poona near Hadapsar village, which is nearest the industrial belt.