Sawant against train halt in Goa as new COVID-19 cases surface

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant

has suggested the Railways to cancel the halt at Madgaon for special trains being operated by it as the state records new cases of coronavirus after a gap of more than a month.

He has also said people travelling to the state in special trains or flights will have to undergo home quarantine for 14 days even if they are non-Goans.

Sawant on Thursday said the state government has suggested to the Railways that a special train from New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram, which will run on May 15 (and arrive in Madgaon on May 16) should not halt at the station in Goa.

 

He said "720 people have booked tickets on the train to get down at Madgaon. We have realised that hardly anyone of them is Goan.

"We are concerned about what will happen once they get down. We will have to test them. We will advice them home quarantine, but we are not sure if they will do that. That is why we have suggested that the train skip the station."

When contacted, a Konkan Railway official said on Friday "We have no intimation about cancellation of the stop till now."

After a gap of more than a month, Goa reported eight fresh cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. All the eight patients had arrived in the state from outside.

On Wednesday, Sawant had said passengers, including non-Goans, who arrive in the state by special trains from May 15, will have to arrange for their own accommodation and the same applies to people who arrive by flights.

"They will have to stay indoors at their respective hotels for 14 days. They cannot enter the beaches, which remain closed. They cannot come here to enjoy," he said.

Those arriving by flights will be tested at the airport itself, he added.

The Chief Minister said similar arrangements were made by Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), where people arriving by ships would be tested, before being allowed to move out.