14,649 migrants leave Karnataka in 10 special trains

In all, 14,649 migrants left Karnataka in 10 Shramik special trains to their native places in northern, eastern and north-eastern states, an official said on Monday.

"With 14,699 passengers leaving today (Monday), 230,616 migrants have been sent from across Karnataka in 162 Shramik trains to their home states in north and north-eastern regions of the country since May 3," a South Western Railway (SWR) official told IANS here.

The first train left Hubballi in the state's northwest region to Darbhanga in Bihar at 12 noon with 1,532 passengers, including migrants, stranded students, pilgrims, tourists, women and children.

The remaining 9 trains left from Bengaluru, with second leaving Bengalore Cantonment (Cantt) to Muzzafarpur in Bihar at 1.50 p.m. with 1,599 passengers.

Third train left Bengaluru Cantt to Bhagalpur in Bihar at 5.30 p.m. with 1,502 passengers. Fourth train left Bengaluru city to Balasore in Odisha at 6.17 p.m. with 1,600 passengers.

Fifth train left Bengaluru Cantt to Saharsa in Bihar at 7.05 p.m. with 1,600 passengers. Sixth train left Bengaluru city to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh at 7.35 p.m. with 1,200 passengers.

Seventh train left Bengaluru Cantt to Hajipur in Bihar at 8.45 p.m. with 1,200 passengers. Eighth train left Bengaluru city to Bairabi in Mizoram at 9 p.m. with 1,456 passengers.

Ninth train left Bengaluru Cantt to Araria in Bihar at 10.37 p.m. with 1,506 passengers. Tenth train left Bengaluru city to Bokaro steel city in Jharkhand at 11.09 p.m. with 1,454 passengers.

"All the passengers were asymptomatic when screened after they registered their names with details on the Karnataka government's Seva Sindu portal and informed their states for receiving and sending them to their native place," said the official.

The zonal railways is also supplied three meals to the migrants in the train, with each food packet containing rice bath, 4 chapati with pickle, 2 oranges, 2 one litre water bottle, 2 roti with sabji, 1 pack rice bath, 1 kara bun, 1 sweet bun.

"NGOs (non-government organizations) like Wipro's Azim Premji Foundation and Merch Mission are coordinating food supply with the state labour department," the official added.

Care is being taken to ensure social distancing, wearing of mask and sanitising of hands.

Regular announcements were made to caution passengers against the spread of Covid-19 virus before departure from Bengaluru, and Hubballi.

Hand sanitizer and liquid soap has been provided in all coaches to protect the migrants from the virus. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is escorting the trains and ensuring social distancing.