A train from Nasik, one of the cities in the worst hit Maharashtra, will convey 347 stranded labourers, students, tourists and professionals to state capital on Saturday.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday allowed the use of trains for ferrying people struck due to the nationwide lockdown to their respective states. Stranded people such as migrant workers, tourists, pilgrims, professionals and students can now be transported using trains
The deputy commissioner finance of road transport department Gunwant Sewantkar informed Free Press that a train from Nasik will arrive here on Saturday morning carrying stranded people such as migrant workers, tourists, pilgrims and students. The passengers thereafter will be sent to their respective district headquarters on buses and from there the local administration will arrange transportation to drop them to their respective locality.
The decision of the MHA came after several chief ministers had urged the Home Ministry to operate special trains to facilitate the movement of migrants labourers considering the long-distance and a large number of individuals stranded.
Earlier the MHA had permitted inter-state movement of stranded persons amid the lockdown on Wednesday. In the notice issued by the Home Ministry on Friday, it has stated that the ministry of Railways will designate nodal officers for coordinating with states and Union Territories for the movement of stranded persons. It has also informed that the MoR will issue detailed guidelines for sale of tickets, and for social distancing and other measures to be observed at train stations, train platforms and within the trains.
MHA issues guidelines
The passengers will undergo screening before boarding the train and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. The state governments will be responsible for transporting the stranded persons in batches that can be accommodated in the train to the designated railway station in sanitized buses following social distancing norms and other precautions. It will be mandatory for every passenger to cover their faces. Meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the states at the originating station.
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