First special train carrying 1200 migrant workers leaves Telangana for Jharkhand
Hyderabad/IBNS: Days after the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the movement of migrant workers, students, pilgrims and other people stranded across the country amid the ongoing lockdown, the first train carrying 1200 labourers left from Lingampally in Telangana for Jharkhand's Hatia district, media reports said.
Director-General, Railway Protection Force (RPF) Arun Kumar said the train left at 4.50 am and is expected to reach Hatia at 11 pm, running non-stop.
The train has 24 coaches and each coach carried only 54 people instead of 72 which is its usual capacity.
An Indian Railways statement said:“Today morning a one-off special train was run from Lingampalli to Hatia on request of the state government of Telangana and as per the directions of the Ministry of Railways. All necessary precautions such as prior screening of passengers, maintaining social distancing at station and in the train were followed.
“This was only a one-off special train and any further trains shall be planned only as per the directions of the Ministry of Railways and on request from both the originating and destination state governments.”
Reports said Jharkhand government has said it has made adequate arrangement to quarantine and test the people arriving in today's train.
According to an NDTV report, the train carried the migrant workers from the IIT Kandi campus in Hyderabad. The news of the special train was kept low key to avoid an incident like Mumbai's Bandra, where thousands of workers had crowded defying lockdown following fake news of a special-train for carrying stranded workers.
Telangana minister Srinivas Yadav said there are 15 lakh migrant workers and sending them as far as 500km to 1000 km in buses in hot weather could be dangerous, adding that social distancing, too, would have been endangered, it said.
Another train carrying people will depart Kerala's Ernakuam at 6 pm for Bhubaneshwar in Odisha, the report added.
The train which will carry over a thousand people will be sanitised thoroughly as a precaution against coronavirus infection.
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