Panjim: The State Government has emphasized that it has been continuously making efforts to bring back citizens stranded at different places to Goa and to send stranded persons in Goa to their respective States.
The Interstate Movement Cell set up for this purpose is continuously monitoring the requests being received on the ‘Goaonline’ portal and calls/emails/messages received through different channels. The movement is planned through the use of KTCL buses/Shramik Express trains in consultation with nodal officials of different states, says a state government press release sent through Department of Information.
Numbers of those ferried back home/out of Goa
The dept further says that on Thursday, 60 students from Ghatprabha, Karnataka have been ferried back to Goa in 3 Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited (KTCL) buses under constant supervision of the Cell. Furthermore, 26 individuals have left from Kochi and Mangalore in 2 KTCL buses to come back to Goa.
“On May 14, 2020, twenty four individuals will start their travel from Banglaore for Goa. The passengers on reaching back to Goa will be tested for Covid-19 and will be quarantined as per the MHA guidelines. In last couple of days, 15 buses have brought back 241 people to Goa who were stranded earlier stranded in Kerala (Kasargod), Karnataka (Mangalore, Bengaluru, Belgaum, Hubli, Dharvad, Khanapur, Jamboti and Gadag), Maharashtra (Navi Mumbai, Pune), Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat), Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT),” it says.
Furthermore, it claims, a total of 4,476 people stranded in Goa from Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have left for their respective States as on date through 4 Shramik special trains during the last few days.
“The efforts of the government has started yielding desired results as many citizens who were stranded in different parts of the country such as Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT) arrived in the State and stranded persons in Goa reached their native place,” the government says.
How the ‘Interstate Movement Cell’ operates
Moreover, it continues, the Cell has put in place dedicated teams for managing the control room inter-state helpline number, WhatsApp and email), ensuring effective communication as well as coordination between concerned States and the stranded persons. The ‘Inter-state Movement Cell’ has been working relentlessly to ensure smooth movement of stranded people across the States.
“Till date the Control Room has handled 6,700+ calls, 1,300+ emails, 4,400+ WhatsApp messages. Social media monitoring is also being done to reach out to persons in distress. The Cell has received a huge number of travel requests through public transport and has been endeavouring with other States to ensure a seamless and early plan for the travel. The citizens are informed through sms/calls by the control room once the travel plan for a particular destination is finalised. The Cell solicits cooperation from all the applicants in this regard patiently,” it says.
