Guntakal: The special Shramik trains carrying migrants from Mumbai to Villupuram in Tamil Nadu comprising of 1600 passengers starved for food and water.
These migrants who started for their 36 hours journey, remained hungry for 18 hours until a group of donors had voluntarily helped them.
Speaking to Mujahid Farooqui it was revealed that a few people from the train had contacted these humble donors for water and it was then that they told how badly they need some food as well.
The passengers from the train told, “When we got on to the train; most of them were hungry and thought that the government will provide them with some food. But, all our hopes died when there was no food given to us. Even worse was the extreme heat which dehydrated us.”
“We were informed about them approximately at 12:45 pm and as soon we heard we stared working on it. It was at 2:00pm that the train had a halt at Guntakal and would strand there for half hour,” informed Mujahid.
Moncho Ferrer, director at rural development trust (RDT) Ananthapur with collaboration with other NGO’s, police and others had voluntarily provided the passengers water, fruits, and bread.“We just had an hour and more to buy things, and get thing ready at Guntakal station. My cousin Umair Ahmed and his son Junaid who lived in Barelly which is a few kilometers away from Guntakal were also there with fruits,” said Mujahid.Things were not possible without help from police and railway department officials informed another volunteer.
“It was a great relief to see those smiles on these migrants when they were handed a bottle of water,” said Umair.