BENGALURU: Truck drivers are declining to deliver essentials to places that have seen coronavirus deaths or high infections.

On the avoidance list is Kalaburagi, where the first coronavirus death in India was reported, Ahmedabad, which saw three deaths, Indore in Madhya Pradesh and some of the metros. Even places like Kanyakumari , the southern most tip of India, is being avoided despite the local district administration clarifying that some three deaths that occurred this week were unrelated to Covid-19.

Shanmugavelan P, 42, owner of Sri Lakshmi Logistics, with four trucks says, "My driver took the truck filled with bananas from Sivaganga ( Tamil Nadu ) to my friend's office in Nagercoil . He parked it there and refused to go further saying people are dying in Kanyakumari."

Bal Malkit Singh , chairman, All Indian Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), says most of their drivers have worked with them for over a decade, but are now declining duty. "They don't even want to travel to big cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru with the loads as they are also getting news on their mobile phones as to the number of cases in each of these cities," he says.

Currently driving from Nashik in Maharashtra to Delhi, truck driver Rehan S, 32, says, "I have a wife and two kids. My father manages my farm alone in Bhokarhedi, UP. My family really fears for my safety. Other drivers abandoned the vehicles but I haven't. I don't know what will happen to my family if I get corona. But I fear losing my income, so I am staying on. I know it won't be a good year for farming and I can't depend on my dad."

In Chikkaballapur, 58km from Bengaluru, five tested positive for coronavirus last week. Venkata Krishnappa, a farmer in the district, says he couldn't get any transport. "Everyone fears the virus. I had to dump 15 tonnes of grapes, worth Rs 5 lakh. It's heartbreaking."

Bangalore Wholesale Food Grains and Pulses Merchants Association general secretary Ramesh Chandra says "it's a perception battle."

Farmer Amresh K Diwedi, who has a 15-acre farm in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, says. "The harvesters haven't come from Punjab and Haryana. We depend on them to bring the harvesting machines (worth Rs 8.5-10 lakh) and labour to harvest our pulses, grains and wheat crop. And this wheat crop has to be harvested in the next 45 days or I will be staring at a dead loss. If it rains in the interim also I will lose my crop."

