Lucknow/Gorakhpur: Over 3,000 labourers stuck in Maharashtra due to the coronavirus lockdown were brought to Uttar Pradesh in three special trains on Monday.
A day before, over 2,000 workers around 800 from Maharashtra and 1,205 from Gujarat’s Ahmedabad– were brought to the state in the special Shramik trains.
According to officials, two trains with 2,127 labourers reached Gorakhpur from Maharashtra’s Bhiwandi and the Vasai Road railway stations in the early hours on Monday.
In Lucknow, over 1,021 stranded labourers arrived from Nagpur at 8.30 am.
They were screened for coronavirus and sent to their homes.
Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation deployed 44 buses to carry the migrant workers who arrived in the state capital to their destinations, Lucknow Depot Regional Manager PK Bose said.
“These buses were sanitised. At 11 am, the labourers boarded the buses. They were provided with food, water and masks. The buses then departed for Gorakhpur, Basti, Moradabad, Prayagraj and Sonbhadra,” Bose said.
Gorakhpur’s SDM (Sadar) Gaurav Singh Sogarwal said, “The first train from Bhiwandi brought 1,145 passengers at 1.20 am on Monday. The other train from the Vasai Road railway station brought 982 passengers around 5.30 am.
A large number of them belonged to Khajni, Bansgaon and Gola tehsils of Gorakhpur, he said.
Social distancing norms were maintained in trains and buses.
A labourer, Ram Shabad, who worked in a loom in Maharashtra’s Bhwandi expressed joy over the return to the state.
“I am happy that finally I reached my hometown. On the way, we got food and water. Before boarding the train, my documents were checked. At the Gorakhpur railway station, my thermal screening was done.”
“I am happy that after a long time, I will be able to see my family, he added.
According to officials, only 54 people were allowed in a bogie of a train.
Travelling ticket examiners and the RPF staff were also deployed in the trains.
Those who arrived in Kanpur on Sunday belonged to 53 districts of the state.
They were examined and sent to their homes in 43 buses, Kanpur City Magistrate Himanshu Gupta said.
Some labourers told mediapersons that they had to pay the fare of general class.