The central government announced special trains for migrant labourers waiting to go home. Mid-day team has reached Bhiwandi station for a special coverage on the first train to Gorakhpur which is set for departure on Saturday night. (Pictures/Pradeep Dhivar, Atul Kamble, Suresh KK)
Updated On: 2020-05-02 08:23 PM IST
Migrant workers in Mumbai are set to go home as a special train headed to Gorakhpur will leave from Bhiwandi on Saturday night.
The workers and their families had assembled at a spot in Bhiwandi with the help of police officers after which they were taken to the railway station.
Special trains have started plying migrant workers, students and tourists who were stranded due to the nationwide lockdown imposed in the view of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country following an order from the Union Home Ministry.
The central government had issued fresh directives on April 29 allowing states to transport stranded students, migrant labourers, tourists, and pilgrims to their home states or destination by strictly following guidelines meant to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
According to the directive by the ministry, all states and UTs will appoint their nodal officers who will develop standard protocols for such stranded people.
The guidelines stated that, in case a group of stranded persons wish to move between one state and union territory and another state and union territory, the sending and receiving states may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by road.
On arrival at their destination, the travellers would be assessed by the local health authorities, and kept in home quarantine, unless the assessment requires keeping the persons in institutional quarantine, the order stated.
