Team Herald
MAPUSA: The first Shramik Express of the Konkan Railway, with 1,196 persons on board, left for Madhya Pradesh from Thivim railway station on Friday afternoon. The special train, taking migrant workers home, is expected to reach Gwalior on Saturday morning.
The migrant workers were stranded in Goa due to the ongoing nationwide lockdown and faced difficulties regarding daily expenses as there was no work and hence they earned no wages. Faced with the prospect of a long lockdown, they registered online for travel back to their home State.
On Thursday, the workers were taken to Thivim railway station by KTC buses and were given accommodation and meals. They were also screened for COVID-19 symptoms by medical staff. During the medical examination, doctors found seven persons with symptoms of high body temperature and they were not allowed to depart for Madhya Pradesh. They will be sent for further medical testing.
Nodal officer for Interstate Movement Cell, Kunal, said that those who left are from eight different MP districts. They have already alerted the nodal officers of the MP administration at Gwalior who will receive them and transport them to their respective districts.
Kunal said that over 60,000 persons have registered with them and the portal is still open for those who want to return to their native places. However, depending on the passenger requirement and railway capability where 90 per cent seats have to be filled, a decision will be taken in consultation with nodal officer of the other States.
Kunal also said that since this was the first exercise of evacuation of such a large number of people, the process of medical screening, putting passengers in respective compartment and seats slightly delayed the train.
He added that data collection, mapping the districts and number of people and planning that the trains reach the right destination was challenging, however, the teams managed to put things in place.
