A special train carrying about 1,200 Migrants set off from Telangana to Jharkhand under a pilot project on the request of the southern state’s government.
New Delhi: The first “special train” to move migrants stranded by the national lockdown left form Telangana for Jharkhand at around 4.30 am.
The train carried 1,200 people from Lingampally in the southern state to Jharkhand’s Hatia district.
The 24-coach train, which normally seats 72 people in a compartment, contained only 54 people in each in compliance with social distancing guidelines. All passengers were also screened for symptoms before being permitted to board.
Movement of migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students & other persons, stranded at different places, is also allowed by #SpecialTrains to be operated by @RailMinIndia. MoR to designate nodal officer(s) for coordinating with States/ UTs for their movement#lockdown #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/UvEvDH1Ibj
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) May 1, 2020
A second such train is scheduled to leave Kerala’s Ernakulam in the evening for Bhubaneshwar in Odisha, as per Kerala minister VS Sunil Kumar.
The train, estimated to leave at 6 pm and carry more than 1,000 people, will be fully sanitised and all passengers, who will be taken to the station by the state, will be required to maintain social distancing.
The Telangana-Jharkhand train was commenced as a pilot project and any further trains shall be planned only as per the regulations of Ministry of Railways and on-demand from both the originating and destination state governments.
Over 1,100 people have died due to COVID-19 in India and more than 35,000 cases have been recorded in the country so far, as per the government.
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