Members belonging to 23 families hailing from Madhya Pradesh are stranded at Mannargudi following cancellation of long distance trains from Monday.
The families had arrived at Tiruvarur district a month ago for selling sickle, knife and other instruments for domestic use at various villages in the district. After touring the district extensively, they arrived at Mannargudi last Friday to board the weekly Mannargudi-Bhagat ki Kothi Express train on Monday to get back to their native place.
However, on Sunday the Indian Railways announced that all the long distance trains would remain cancelled till March 31 in view of the COVID-19 virus scare. Thus, these families were forced to stay at Mannargudi itself until resumption of the train services.
All the men and women with some children put up tents on an agriculture field on the outskirts of Mannargudi as they were not allowed to stay on the railway station premises.
On noticing their presence on the agriculture field, local people brought their plight to the notice of the District Administration which has made arrangements for their stay at a marriage hall in the town, sources said.
