Lockdown in India: Seriously ill, pregnant women must avoid train travel

Days after nine deaths were reported on-board Shramik Special trains, the Indian Railways on Friday appealed to people not to travel on these trains if they are suffering from pre-existing health conditions.

At least nine passengers were reported dead on May 27 over a span of 48 hours on board the migrant trains, with the railways stating that all of them had health conditions.

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, "I appeal to people suffering from serious ailments, pregnant women & those above 65 years & below 10 years of age to travel only when necessary in Shramik Trains"

"It has been observed that some people who are availing this service have pre-existing medical conditions which aggravates the risk they face during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few unfortunate cases of deaths related to pre-existing medical conditions while travelling have happened," it said in a statement.

"In order to protect vulnerable persons from Covid-19, the Ministry of Railways makes an appeal that persons with co-morbidities (for example - hypertension, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, immune deficiency conditions), pregnant women, children below the age of 10 and persons above 65 years of age may avoid travel by rail, except when it is essential," it said.

It also said that the railway family is working 24X7 to ensure that rail services are provided to all citizens of the country needing to travel.

"We seek the cooperation of all citizens in this matter. In case of any distress or emergency please do not hesitate to reach out to your railway parivaar and we will help you as always (Helpline number - 139 & 138)," it said.
 

Latest update on migrant deads

The body of a 38-year-old migrant worker was discovered in the toilet of a train at Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi Railway Station on Thursday evening. The body had likely been lying there for several days - while the train completed a round-trip trip - before it was found by railway workers who were sanitising the coaches. The migrant worked as a daily wager in Mumbai but, like lakhs of other migrants, was left without a job or money by the abruptly-enforced lockdown.

The migrant managed to reach Jhansi on May 23, after which he and other migrants looking to return home were sent by the district administration to the station to board a train to Gorakhpur, which is around 70 km from Basti.

It is not clear if Gorakhpur was the final destination or whether the train crossed the border into Bihar to return migrants from that state - official clarification on this point is pending.

Shramik Trains details

The Indian Railways has ferried over 5 million migrant workers on board 3,736 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1, according to official data.

Of these, 3,157 have already reached their destination.

The top five states and UTs from where maximum trains originated are Gujarat (979), Maharashtra (695), Punjab(397), Uttar Pradesh (263) and Bihar (263).

These Shramik Special Trains were terminated in various states across the country.

The top five states where maximum trains terminated their journey are Uttar Pradesh (1520), Bihar (1296), Jharkhand (167), Madhya Pradesh (121), Odisha (139).