A 57-year-old man from North 24-Parganas cycled for about 70km to his leather goods manufacturing unit in Kasba on May 5 when the company resumed operations amid the lockdown.

Dilip Kumar Dutta said he wanted to get back to work after sitting at home for more than a month. Another worker at the same factory, Rehmatullah Laskar, 37, also cycled for 50km to work from his home in South 24-Parganas because he was scared he would lose his job if he didn’t report for duty.

The company’s officials said they were flooded with requests from workers eager to get back to work but had to refuse many because of the government restrictions on manpower.

Dilip set off from his home in Habra on his bicycle around 8am and reached the Kasba Industrial Estate at 6pm. He said the six-hour ride took much longer because he had to take several breaks on the way.

North 24-Parganas being a red zone for Covid-19, no public transport was available.

Before the lockdown, Dilip would cycle to Habra station, 3km from his home, and take a local train to Ultadanga or Ballygunge, from where he would take a bus or an auto to the factory in Kasba. “At my age, it is extremely difficult to ride the bicycle for almost 70km. But when I got a call from my factory manager that operations were going to resume, although on a smaller scale, I felt the urge to join work,” said Dilip, who is the superviser of the sample production unit at the factory. “If I don’t go to work, other boys in the sample production unit would become almost non-functional.”

Dilip received his monthly salary of about Rs 30,000 last month though the factory was closed because of the lockdown. “But if production had remained stalled for longer, we would all be affected. So it was important to start operations,” said Dilip, who has been working at the unit since 2008.

Rehmatullah Laskar, from South 24-Parganas, on his way to work in Kasba

The Kasba unit opened after the relaxations announced by both the Centre and the state. On May 4, Dilip received an e-pass from his company that allowed him to travel and join work.

The seat of his bicycle started giving trouble on the way. No repair shop was open but he went to a mechanic’s home and urged him to fix the seat.

“I was carrying several bottles of water, a few of them containing water mixed with salt and sugar and some containing glucose water. I was wearing a cap to protect myself from the sun, besides a mask and gloves,” Dilip said. “I stopped at a sweet shop on Jessore Road and took several more breaks. I would sit under the shade of a tree and rest for half an hour or so.” His wife called him several times, worried that he could fall ill.

Dilip was stopped at several police checkpoints but allowed to proceed after he showed his documents.

Dilip’s team member, Rehmatullah, had started from his home at Dakshin Barasat in South 24-Parganas around 4am. He, too, had to cycle to work since local trains were not operating. He took two short breaks on the way and reached Kasba around 7am.

“I was given the choice of joining now or wait for the lockdown to get over. But this is the time when samples for the coming season in Europe and other places are delivered to customers every year. This year already it’s late and I was very worried about what would happen if the orders were cancelled because of the delay in production,” said Rehmatullah, who has been working with the company for a year.

“The company has paid me my salary till date but if the orders are cancelled then I may lose my job. So I was desperate to join work,” said Rehmatullah, who has his wife and four sons to support.

Rehmatullah’s wife and parents asked him not to venture out amidst lockdown but he didn’t listen.

Both Dilip and Rehmatullah are now staying at the manufacturing unit along with other workers.