The process of migrant labourers reaching Jharkhand from various states continued on Wednesday as another Shramik special train carrying 1,037 migrant workers struck in Tamil Nadu reached Hatia station from Chennai. Sources said that more than 25,000 migrant workers have now been brought back on more than twenty special trains from across the country since May 1.
The Shramik special train which left Chennai Central Station on Monday night reached Hatia station in morning carrying 1037 passengers.
The Ranchi district administration had made elaborate arrangements for passengers reaching Hatia station. The passengers on their return to their home state were welcomed with roses. Food packets and water bottles were given to each migrant worker. Each migrant worker body temperature was measured through thermal scanner and then only they were given seats to buses. Senior officials from railway and district administration were at Hatia station to ensure that passengers coming out from railway stations were maintaining social distance.
As the district administration had arranged separate buses for different districts it was also ensured that social distancing was also maintained at buses. The district administration had arranged 49 buses for ferrying migrant workers.
For each district there were separate buses, for example Latehar and Deoghar had two buses each. For Palamu district 18 buses were arranged, Garhwa district 13, while for district Sareikela, Sahebganj, Bokaro, Chatra, Dhanbad, Dumka, Giridih, Godda, Jamtara, Ramgarh, Lohardaga, West and East Singhbhum and Ranchi one buses each.
Similarly, the maximum workers were from Palamu district. 448 workers were for Palamu district followed by Garhwa for which 329 workers. Deoghar had 53 migrant workers while Latehar had 48 workers. Ranchi district had 11 migrant workers.
On May 1, a ‘Shramik Special’ train carrying 1200 migrant labourers of Jharkhand reached Ranchi. The train – first in the country following enforcement of lockdown to contain COVID-19 spread reached from Lingampalli Railway Station in Telangana.
The Hemant Soren Government heaved a sigh of relief as the train service resumed exclusively for migrant labourers coinciding with International Labour Day. The Soren government was under enormous pressure with close to one million migrant labourers from the tribal dominated State reported stranded in different parts of the country.
Apart from migrant workers train carrying students from Kota in Rajasthan too had reached Hatia. Also till date two special trains ferrying stranded CMC Hospital patients and their attendants have reached Hatia from Katpadi railway junction in Vellore district.
The second train from Vellore having 22 coaches ferried 1138 passengers mostly patients and their caregivers who had gone for treatment at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore reached Hatia on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Delhi-Ranchi Rajdhani Express will reach Ranchi station on Thursday. On same day the train will leave for Delhi. The district administration has asked passengers to reach station three hours before the departure time so that medical test and screening of all passengers is done. As per district administration guidelines only those passengers who are medically fit and not having any symptoms of Covid 19 will be allowed to board the train.
Also in other development the number of persons recovering from Covid 19 has been increasing. On Wednesday nine persons who were admitted at RIMS were discharged after they recovered from disease.