More than 42,000 people stranded across the country have reached their destinations in eastern India on Shramik Special trains, 36 of which terminated or entered areas covered by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
The special trains carrying migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and employees in various sectors have come from places such as Kozhikode, Bengaluru, Kota, Jaipur, Surat, Vadodara, Ludhiana, Rohtak, Kalyan, Bhiwani and Jalandhar.
“By Wednesday, 36 such trains have reached various stations under NFR with more than 42,000 passengers, who were provided free meals and water during the journey,” NFR’s chief spokesperson Subhanan Chanda said. Of these, 34 reached four destinations in Bihar while a train each reached Agartala in Tripura and Jiribam in Manipur. Six more trains, including one for northern West Bengal, are expected to arrive within three days, officials said.
All the passengers arriving by the special trains were being received by the civil administration of the respective States at the railway stations after following necessary COVID-19 protocols, officials said.
Indian Railways has operated more than 550 Shramik Specials and transported around 6.50 lakh passengers across the country till May 12.
Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the inflow of passengers by “more trains than was initially anticipated” was posing a stiff challenge to the State’s ability to combat the pandemic.
