Coronavirus | Train carrying stranded labourers reaches Bhopal from Nashik

This is the first special train which reached Bhopal after the Centre’s announcement to run such services to facilitate the stranded labourers and workers.

Migrant workers deboard from a special train that arrived from Nasik during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, at Misrod railway station in Bhopal on May 02, 2020.

A special train carrying over 340 stranded labourers from Nashik in Maharashtra reached here on Saturday morning.

A district official said that the non-stop special train reached Misrod Railway Station on the outskirts of Bhopal.

“The train brought 347 passengers from Nashik. Of these, 13 were from Bhopal and remaining from other districts.

“After the screening, these passengers were sent to their respective towns in around 15 buses,” Joint Collector Rajesh Gupta told PTI .

This is the first special train which reached Bhopal after the Centre’s announcement to run such services to facilitate the stranded labourers and workers.

“During the coronavirus screening, none of theses passengers was found symptomatic. After breakfast, they were sent to their home districts, where another screening will take place,” he said.

Arrangement for food was also made for them on the buses, Mr. Gupta added.

The labourers brought by train are from Dewas, Indore, Jhabua, Khargone, Morena, Sheopur, Vidisha, Jabalpur, Seoni, Rewa, Sidhi, Singrauli, Satna, Shahdol, Damoh, Tikamgarh, Panna, Gwalior, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Bhind, Rajgarh, Datia, Khandwa, Barwani and Betul, he said.

On Friday night, Divisional Railway Manager, Bhopal, Uday Borwankar had said that the non-stop special train carrying these labourers left Nashik at 9 p.m. on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had on Friday announced that one lakh labourers from the State stuck in various parts of the country will be brought back by special trains.

Mr. Chouhan had also said that the State government had brought back 40,000 workers from other States by buses so far.

“Now the State government will bring back about one lakh workers to Madhya Pradesh from different parts of the country by trains. A discussion has already been held in this regard with the Railway Minister,” he had said in a statement.

The chief minister directed Additional Chief Secretary ICP Keshari to provide necessary information to the Ministry of Railways about the number of labourers from the State who are stranded in different parts of the country.

Keshari said over one lakh labourers from Madhya Pradesh are stranded in other States: 50,000 in Maharashtra, 30,000 in Gujarat, 8,000 in Tamil Nadu, 5,000 in Karnataka, 10,000 in Andhra Pradesh and 3,000 in Goa.