Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Shankar Manjhi is leading a stressful life these days. Sitting in his boat anchored on the bank of River Ganges in Varanasi, Manjhi spends a better part of his day awaiting tourists whom he can take for a boat ride in the holy river to earn a living.
Till a year ago, the holy city of Varanasi, about 320 kms from the state capital Uttar Pradesh, had over 14,000 boatmen from the manjhi (traditional boatmen) community. Now less than one-third of them continue to be in the trade, informed Varanasi Nishad Raj Kalyan Samiti. These boatmen are struggling to make ends meet while at least 4,000 boatmen have switched their occupations.
Manjhi fears he may soon have to abandon his boat, his traditional occupation, and take up some other work to survive as the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the manjhi community hard.
“I have managed to earn merely Rs 200 today. You yourself should get an idea what my condition is. It’s become a constant battle just to survive in these times,” an irritated, middle-aged Manjhi told Gaon Connection.
It’s been a year since the first nationwide lockdown was imposed as a measure to limit the spread of COVID19 in March, last year. Businesses across the country experienced a setback, many of which continue to struggle for livelihood. One such struggle is of the boatmen community of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Also Read: A year after the COVID-19 lockdown, the ominous silence of Varanasi’s looms
The markets in Varanasi are buzzing with activity and COVID19 restrictions are nowhere to be seen, but with the onset of the ‘second wave’ of coronavirus cases, the boatmen community fears the imposition of another lockdown.
“My financial situation was in shambles during the lockdown. I had to sell off whatever jewellery my wife had in order to feed my family. I also availed a loan of Rs 90,000. Even after the lockdown has lifted, the tourists are not visiting the ghats, and boatment like me are struggling to make ends meet,” he added.
Also Read: Women in Varanasi set to enter the world of toy making traditionally occupied by the menfolk
Wide impact
According to the Jai Maa Ganga Association, the livelihood of more than 50,000 people in Varanasi is dependent/associated with the boatmen community. “Every year, the community is anyway out of work for three months during the monsoon season. So the additional lockdowns and the scare of Coronavirus amongst the tourists who are not visiting the ghats has adversely impacted the live s of the boatmen in Varanasi,” an official from the association said.
“Our occupation totally depends on tourism. In these times, nobody wants to venture out of their homes for excursion or travel. The absence of foreigh tourists is especially damaging to our livelihoods because they pay higher rates for boating than domestic tourists. Even the local tourists are not eager not for boat rides anymore,” 42-year-old Sahni said.
He also stated that the government abandoned the boatmen in these testing times. “There has been no support from the government. With no help from any agency or organisation, it has become difficult to even arrange two square meals a day for our family,” Sahni added.
Corona fear returns
The year 2021 ushered in a new hope for the boatmen along the riverbanks in Varanasi. The COVID19 cases were receding and normalcy was in sight. That changed with the surge in coronavirus cases after mid-March.
Another boatman, Pradeep Sahni told Gaon Connection that the absence of tourists from foreign countries due to international flight restrictions is most damaging to the community.
Also Read: Lockdown and monsoons: A double whammy for Varanasi boatmen
For instance, yesterday, on April 1, Uttar Pradesh recorded 2,600 new coronavirus cases. Cases more than doubled in a 24 hours period. A month back, on March 1, the state had recorded 87 cases.
On April 1, the total active cases in the state stood at 11,918, of which, 6,722 were in home isolation, 287 were reported to be in private hospitals and the remaining 4,909 were getting treated in government COVID hospitals free of cost.
“This year, in the month of January, our earnings rose a bit. The business reached fifty per cent of what it used to be in pre-COVID times. It seemed as if the business would soon return to normalcy and hardships would cease to be,” Sahni told Gaon Connection.
“But the recent spurt in cases makes us shudder. We hardly get any customers at all in three to four days as people have begun taking precautions and are staying home.”
