mumbai the exodus of migrants from maharashtra is no longer confined to those hovering over the poverty line the masses who made ends meet through daily workmen wages and contractual jobs a large section now on the long march or riding the interstate bus home are from the rs 1500020000 income strata employed in industries ranging from jewellery and ecommerce to garments and hospitalitythe gig economy had lifted many by a few notches on the income ladder but not enough to build a security net that would sustain them during a monthslong lockdown it is becoming difficult to survive in the city with no job and money the only way out is get back to my village and do some farming said mohan bavaliya 32 from rajkot he was employed with a jeweller in mira road who paid him rs 10000 to tide over the lockdown but with no end in sight he has been left to fend for self and family bavaliya said a vehicle owner had promised a passage home he was on his way to a pickup spot near kashimira police station when a toi correspondent met himmumbaiahmedabad highway is the route for a constant flow of refugees fleeing the economic miseries wrought by the pandemic unlike the first waveof mostly homeless labourerswho left for gujarat rajasthan uttar pradesh and madhya pradesh days after the lockdown was first announced this time the majority comprises families who are no longer able to pay rents or manage household expenses they had access to drinking water sanitation energy education housing and healthcare but paid for it unwilling to survive on handouts they have now chosen to return to their hometowns rather than depend on the whims of an adopted statewe stayed in a rented room in kandivli but had to vacate as we cant afford the rent we decided to start walking and get lifts en route said harsh sahariya 30 from mp employed at a mobile shop at indraprastha shopping centre in borivali he said he barely got paid in march and has run out of cash he and some roommates all of whom earned rs 1000015000 said they were not willing to beg for a livingtoi interacted with several who said lockdown 30 was the tipping point the common reasons were that in the last 40 days they had no work or wages and savings had dried up while food supplies were erratic cops said by sunset the highways are now flooded with such people these migrants have now started walking after dark that way they manage to sneak out of the city said a cop manning the ghodbunder road junctiona group on thanebelapur road en route to dungarpur in rajasthan on friday said they had filled up interstate travel forms and paid for medical certificates declaring them healthy but since their turn on the shramik special trains to their state would take a while they had decided to walk we are not depending on government anymore to