Over 15,000 leave Punjab in 12 Shramik trains
BATHINDA: Twelve Shramik Express trains carrying migrants labourers back to their native states ran from Punjab on Sunday with another one leaving from Chandigarh as well. Trains ran from Bathinda (2), Ludhiana (5), Jalandhar (2), Amritsar (2) and Patiala (1). With each train carrying an average of around 1,200 passengers, over 15,000 migrants left the state.
The first train from the south Malwa belt with 1,388 migrant workers left for Muzaffarpur, Bihar, from Bathinda at 11am, deputy commissioner B Srinivasan said. In the evening, another train left for Daltonganj in Jharkhand at 5pm. Many of the migrants said making ends meet was a worry, adding the authorities had provided them food, bottled water and free tickets.
Mahesh Das, 38, said, “I was working at Guru Gobind Singh Refinery (GGSR) in Bathinda. I want to be with family due ti the pandemic. Survival will be difficult in my village.” Anwar, of Jaimangla village in Purnia district, said, “Opportunities are bleak at home, so I will have to come back once construction activities resume here.”
About 27,000 persons had registered online to go back, but only 3,000 had come forward for medical screening, the DC said, adding, “As industries have resumed functioning, not many are keen to go back.”
In Patiala, the fourth special train to date left for Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh (UP) at 5pm. From Jalandhar, two trains ran to Barkakhana (Jharkhand) and Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh).
In Amritsar, the second Shramik train, to date, departed for Barauni in Bihar at noon. “We will return once the lockdown is lifted,” said a migrant labourer Jatinder Kumar, who was stranded in Gurdaspur district. Another train left for Unnao in UP at 6pm. From Ludhiana, the first train of the day left for Hardoi in Uttar Pradesh, with another leaving for Bettiah (Bihar) at 2pm followed by trains to UP’s Jaunpur, Azamgarh and Gorakhpur districts.
From state capital Chandigarh, the first train left for Gonda in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday with the migrant workers screened at ISBT, Sector 43, before they were ferried to the station. The Shramik train will now run daily from Chandigarh.
(With inputs from Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala, Ludhiana and Chandigarh)