The open space outside the Howrah railway station is spic and span on Friday morning.
Only a few cars of government officials are seen parked near the station and the police are in a relaxed mood. The crowd and the chaos witnessed two days ago, with hundreds of stranded passengers, disappeared. A calm descended on the biggest train passengers’ hub in east India.
Majority of stranded passengers were shifted to their destinations through buses over the last two days.
Police Inspector in-charge of Howrah station, Sukanta Karmakar, is a happy man. “The State government arranged for seven buses,” he said.
One set of three buses carried 240 to north Bengal, Assam, Tripura, while the others carried about 140 to Asansol, Jharkhand and Bihar. The packed buses may have a risk of virus spread, but “under the circumstances the options were limited,” policemen said.
“The sad part is the railways did nothing; it was almost entirely arranged by the State government. I assume, the buses will carry the passengers till the inter-State border. The neighbouring States will have to arrange for the drop to districts of Bihar or Assam,” said Mr. Karmakar.
Tip of iceberg
But that was just the tip of the iceberg. More and more — mostly migrant workers from Bihar and Jharkhand — are assembling in Howrah station, hoping that the government will arrange for buses to go back to home town. One such group of six reached the station on Saturday afternoon, replacing another group that came from Mangaluru. Friday’s group of six men, originally from Jharkhand, came all the way walking from Batanagar in South 24 Paraganas district to Howrah station, a distance of 45 km.
“We thought [we] will get buses for Jharkhand,” said Ramsahay Yadav, a construction site worker. He and his fellow workers are unsure after two days’ walk on how to reach the destination. The man, who was rotting in the station, last week, has now been removed but an old woman is lying, half naked, and covered with flies.
While the portico and the shade, where the passengers were stranded, has been cleared, the area outside is filled with women who used to work in the eating joints outside. They all are now staying by the Hooghly river, opposite the Howrah station.
