Nearly 2,000 migrants from parts of Mumbai board special trains at Kalyan Terminus

The migrant workers and labourers have been allowed to go to their native places after India entered its third phase of lockdown amid the coronavirus outbreak. Nearly 2,000 migrant workers boarded three special trains from Kalyan terminus. 

The migrant workers from various parts of Mumbai were brought to Kalyan terminus. The three ‘Shramik’ trains were organised to Guntakal in Andhra Pradesh, Darbhanga in Bihar and from Panvel to Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. 

Since the Maharashtra government clarified that no trains from Mumbai would leave for the migrant workers as the city has many containment zones, the workers were ferried to Kalyan Terminus to board these special trains. 

Nearly 800 labourers from Dana Bunder and Masjid Bunder areas were taken to Kalyan, 50 km from Mumbai, in buses while another 942 workers from South Mumbai were ferried with the help of Dongri police. 

So far, the Central Railway (CR) and the Western Railway (WR) have each run two special trains from Bhiwandi and Vasai, Dahanu Road stations, respectively. The majority of the migrant workers stranded in Maharashtra are from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. 

The migrant workers were called to the police station on Tuesday evening after a train was arranged, an official from Dongri Police informed while stating that the migrant workers were taken in 35 different buses to Kalyan to board the special Shramik trains.  

Until now, seven trains have been run from the outskirts of Mumbai to ferry the stranded migrant workers and labourers to their native states. Some trains left from Nagpur, Nashik, Akola and Nandurbar.

The migrants, however, are being charged for their railway fare which has been contested by the opposition across the country. Earlier, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Luv Agrawal claimed that the centre will pay 85 per cent of the travel cost of the migrants. However, no official notification in this regard has been issued yet. 

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