Electrician Dipankar Mondal, 40, pedals 100km in searing heat almost every day between his South 24-Parganas village and workplace Calcutta.

“The other option is to stay home without earning, which is worse,” he said.

Till a few days ago, the commute to work — catching a local train to Sealdah and then walking to Dalhousie — would take Mondal around 90 minutes. Now it’s a four-hour bicycle ride through 50km each way, every day.

Taking multiple halts and a few sips from a water bottle now and then are his only defence against the scorching sun and soaring humidity.

Mondal earns around Rs 11,000 a month working for a vendor who has a contract with a private bank, where he looks after generators, air-conditioners, computer UPS (uninterruptible power supply) units and other electrical equipment. Mondal has been deputed to the bank’s Dalhousie branch but has to attend to problems at other branches, too.

His village in the interiors of Gocharan in Baruipur subdivision is about 15km from Baruipur town and 50km from Dalhousie. The car routes range from 44 to 47km but Mondal takes some bylanes to avoid the main roads, which makes his ride longer.

Mondal is the sole breadwinner in his family, which includes his parents, wife and a 10-year-old daughter.

Since the stricter Covid curbs were imposed on Sunday, Mondal has been leaving home before 6am. He pedals through Baruipur and briefly takes the EM Bypass before turning into the interiors of Kamal Gazi and Boral. Then follows a ride along the narrow lanes adjoining the Boral crematorium up to Tollygunge, and finally the last stretch up the thoroughfares to Dalhousie.

“I try to leave home early because as the day progresses, the weather gets hotter. It’s better to reach the branch a little early and wait under a shade,” Mondal said.

“I don’t speed. When I get exhausted, I halt for a few minutes, maybe drink a little water, and then start pedalling again.”

Mondal has an “authorisation letter” from the bank that he shows to any cop who stops him on the roads. A tool box attached to his bicycle is “proof” that he is “out to fix something”.

On the city roads, he is joined by scores of other cyclists making their own stressful journeys from the suburbs to make a living.

On Tuesday, The Telegraph had reported how the Covid-induced transport constraints are taking a toll on people who do not have the choice of working from home.

From a grocer walking between his store in Gariahat and his home in Garia to a sari shop assistant cycling from Sonarpur to his workplace in Triangular Park, strenuous commutes have become an everyday reality for many in and around Calcutta.

The local train has generally been the transport of choice for Mondal, as for tens of thousands of other daily commuters.

Till last week, Mondal would board the Lakshmikantapur Local from Gocharan station and get off at Sealdah.

During last year’s lockdown, Mondal did not have an authorisation letter and sat at home for nearly two months.

“We survived by making muri (puffed rice) at home and selling it to a couple of nearby shops. But that allowed us to barely scrape through. I don’t want those days to return,” he said.

The banks are now open to the public from 10am to 2pm. Mondal tries to leave the bank by 3.30pm because he is not comfortable riding too long a distance in the dark. But on Wednesday, a job involving cables at his workplace held him back.

It was well past 4.30pm when he spoke to this newspaper, and he was still working. Mondal said he had two options: either “cycle through darkness” or spend the night at the branch.

He eventually stayed back at the bank, joining two tables to make a bed for himself.

“I shall complete Thursday’s shift and then go home,” Mondal said.