Harrowing time for migrants in Chandigarh as trains run late

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 11

Two ‘shramik’ special trains carrying 2,730 migrant workers left for Kishanganj, Bihar, and Gorakhpur, UP, from the Chandigarh railway station today.

• Also read: Families torn, migrants await ride home

The train for Kishanganj that was scheduled to leave at 2 pm left at 3 pm, while the other train to Gorakhpur that was to leave the station at 7 pm departed at 9.25 pm.

CTU buses with nearly 27 passengers in each round started arriving at the station around 11 am. Around 1,260 passengers boarded 22 coaches of the train to Kishanganj.

For train to Gorakhpur, the buses started dropping off the passengers at 5 pm onwards. A total of 1,470 boarded the train to Gorakhpur.

Yashpal Garg, coordinator for city’s ‘shramik’ trains, who is the CEO of CHB, blamed the delay in departure on increase in number of migrants at the last minute. “The number of passengers increased from 1,188 to 1,260 in the Kishanganj train and to 1,470 in the Gorakhpur train. The medical screening of so many people is time-consuming. However, we will try and streamline the process tomorrow.”

Tomorrow also, two trains will leave for Hardoi, UP, and Bhagalpur, Bihar, at 2 pm and 9 pm, respectively. Meanwhile, the RPF did not allow any supporter of either the BJP or the Congress to enter the platform today.

16 trains to take migrants home

As many as 16 ‘shramik’ special trains will take migrants from Chandigarh to their home states in the next couple of weeks. UT Adviser Manoj Parida said these trains would take migrants to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Manipur. The entire expenses are being borne by the UT Administration, including the cost of tickets. The Administration paid Rs 655 per ticket/per person for the trains to Gonda and Kishanganj and Rs 480 per ticket/ per passenger for the train that left for Gorakhpur on Monday.

Trains from mohali leave for Jharkhand, UP

Mohali: Two special trains carrying 2,551 migrant workers chugged off from the Mohali railway station on Monday. The first train with 1,216 persons left for Jharkhand at noon, while the second train with 1,335 persons departed for Gorakhpur in UP at 6 pm. Till date, five special trains have left from the Mohali railway station carrying migrant workers back to their homes states. TNS