SCR's Shramik trains help 1 lakh stranded people reach home

Hyderabad: As of 17 May, the South Central Railway (SCR) has helped around 1,18,229 stranded people reach their hometowns in 93 trains that originated from different districts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

On 1 May, the first shramik train started from Hyderabad's Lingampalli to transport migrant workers to Hatia in Jharkhand. After that, shramik special trains have transported people to Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttrakhand, and Manipur.

The farthest-traveling shramik train was from Bibinagar in Telangana to Jiribam in Manipur which covered a distance of 2,871 km, followed by a train from Chittor in Andhra Pradesh to Sahsra in Bihar covering a distance of 2,589 km.

The general manager of SCR, Gajanan Mallya, appreciated the efforts of the Railway officers in transporting more than one lakh stranded passengers and said the zone officials actively took part in the nation’s endeavor.

The Railways took precautionary measures like thermal screening of passengers, sanitising the coaches, and providing free meals and water for the passengers. Besides that, police escorts were also stationed in each coach to ensure safe travel.

The South Central Railway officials said they will continue running shramik special trains for the stranded migrants in co-ordination with the concerned state governments.

The ministry of Home Affairs had asked the Railways to run the special trains to transport migrant labourers, tourists, students, and other people stranded in various states.