25K migrants leave Punjab, Chandigarh on 21 trains
LUDHIANA: More than 25,000 migrants left for their hometowns on 21 trains from different railway stations of Punjab and Chandigarh on Saturday.
Ferozepur divisional railway manager Rajesh Agarwal said that 15 trains departed from the Ferozepur division on Saturday, including six from Ludhiana, five from Jalandhar city and two each from Ferozepur and Amritsar railway stations. As of now, more than 1.4lakh migrants have been sent to their home states-- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
As many as six trains, with around 1,200 passengers in each train, departed from stations of Punjab and Chandigarh, under the Ambala division, on Saturday. These trains included two trains each from Chandigarh, Patiala and SAS Nagar (Mohali).
Increasing the frequency of trains, the Ludhiana administration has decided to run 10 Shramik special trains on Sunday. It will be the highest number of trains departing from a single station in a day.
OVER 1.7 LAKH MIGRANTS SENT HOME
Over 1.7 lakh migrants have been sent home from Punjab in the last 11 days via Shramik special trains.
Since May 5, as many as 144 trains departed from different stations of Punjab, of which 119 left from four stations of the Ferozepur division and 25 from the Ambala division.
Of the total migrants transported from Punjab, around 82% have been sent by the trains operated by the Ferozepur division.
LUDHIANA ADMN TO START BUSES FOR 10 UP DISTRICTS
Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pradeep Agrawal on Saturday announced that the Uttar Pradesh government has agreed to let its natives travel home from Ludhiana. “We have got permission to send buses to 10 districts— Mathura, Meerut, Saharanpur, Bulandshahar, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and
Hapur. We are making arrangements for buses and the migrants will be informed through SMS about the facility,” he said.
He added that the administration is also coordinating with the Bihar government for permission to send its natives home.
AS MANY AS 144 TRAINS HAVE DEPARTED FROM ACROSS PUNJAB SINCE MAY 5; OF THEM 119 LEFT FROM FEROZEPUR DIVISION AND 25 FROM AMBALA DIVISION