Over 51,000 stranded migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh have reached the state in 43 special Shramik' trains since the special service was launched in view of the nationwide lockdown to combat the novel coronavirus, officials said on Thusrday.
Thirteen more trains carrying migrants are expected to arrive in different parts of the state by midnight, they said.
The railways had started the migrant special trains on May 1 after the central government gave its approval for transportation of stranded workers on the railway network during the lockdown.
These 43 trains arrived at stations such as Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaunpur, Gorakhpur, Pratapgarh, Rae Bareli, Kannauj, Banda, Azamgarh, Barabanki, Sitapur and Unnao. There were 51,371 workers and labourers on these 43 trains, Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi said.
By midnight, 13 more trains will bring 15,500 migrant workers, he said.
As many as 43 more trains with about 53,000 people from other parts of the country will be arriving from Friday onwards, he said.
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So far, the Uttar Pradesh government has made arrangements of 99 trains to bring migrants stranded in different states, Awasthi said.
These trains have brought back migrant workers from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana and Karnataka, he said
The first flight with those stranded abroad will arrive in the state capital on May 9 from Sharjah, As many as 200 passengers are expected, he said.
Awasthi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to follow medical testing protocol before sending them to different districts for home quarantine.
We have requested the Maharashtra government for running 10 trains daily to bring back those stranded in that state, he said, adding that an understanding has been reached to run 17 trains from Punjab which are in different stages of ferrying migrant workers back.
The chief minister has set a target of making arrangements for the return of some 30,000 migrants by train and 10,000 to 15,000 migrants by bus on a daily basis, Awasthi said.
The process of bringing back natives of the state by Uttar Pradesh roadways buses is on. They are bringing 55,700 people, he said.
The chief minister has stressed that no migrant worker should move on foot and proper arrangements have been made to bring them back to Uttar Pradesh, Awasthi said.
Earlier a report from Banda said that a Shramik Express train arrived with 1,220 labourers who were stranded in Gujarat's Surat.
Of these, 1,070 are from Banda and the rest from Fatehpur, Chitrakoot, Mahoba and Hamirpur, Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Banda, Santosh Bahadur Singh, said.
He said they will be kept in 14 days of quarantine before being sent to their home.
In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), managing director, Rajshekhar, said that a bus from Jalandhar arrived in Lucknow on Wednesday at 11.45 pm with migrant labourers.
For them 38 buses were deployed and 1,164 passengers were sent to Bahraich, he said.
Another train from Bengaluru arrived in Lucknow at 6.40 am on Thursday with 1,192 passengers, who were sent in 43 buses to Sonbhadra, Ghazipur, Gonda, Balrampur, Pratapgarh, Amroha, Ambedkar Nagar, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Khushinagar and Deoria, the managing director said.
Another train from Hyderabad reached Barabanki on Thursday at 6.30 am with 1,079 passengers. They were sent in 40 buses to their destinations, including Barabanki, Hardoi, Lucknow, Sitapur, and Lakhimpur, he said.
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