Bhubaneswar: Over 2.5 lakh people, stranded in different parts of the country, have been brought back to Odisha through Shramik Special Trains till June 12, informed the East Coast Railway (ECoR) on Saturday.
ECoR has handled about 558 Shramik Special Trains from its jurisdiction from the 1st week of May, 2020. Out of it, Odisha received 235 Shramik Specials from different States. Almost half of them received from Gujarat.
Special Shramik Trains have also been received from Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi and Maharastra. 14 Shramik Special Trains were sent from ECoR jurisdiction towards different places including one from Sambalpur, two from Bhubaneswar and rest from Visakhapatnam.
About 306 Shramik Special Trains also passed safely through ECoR jurisdiction and were provided meals, water and other services.
Standard Social Distancing guidelines are being followed when receiving or sending passengers at Stations in ECoR jurisdiction by making queues and making circles marked all along the platforms. This is being done in close coordination with the State Government.
East Coast Railway is providing Food packets and water bottles for the passengers of all Shramik Special Trains going to various States with the help of IRCTC in ECoR jurisdiction. Till June 6, 2020, about 10 lakh food packets with water bottles have been provided to the passengers of Shramik Special Trains.
Hygiene protocols in view of the spread of COVID-19 disease are being observed by ECoR at various Stations when handling Shramik Special Trains. Arrangements have been made to check the health condition of the passengers at Stations when receiving and sending to their destinations.
All passengers are being checked with their temperature. Passengers are getting facilities of Hand Sanitisation through pedal-operated System. Apart from this, all Station premises are being sanitized before and after receiving Shramik Special Trains with the help of local administration at some places.
Healthcare services are being provided by ECoR on short notices also, if any complaints received from Shramik Special Trains.
All over Indian Railways, there are good news of babies being born on Shramik Special Trains. In East Coast Railway jurisdiction, three babies have been born and all the three babies along with their mothers were properly shifted to Government Hospitals.
Of the three babies, two have been born at Titilagarh and one at Balangir. That means, all three are from Balangir District of Odisha. To cheer this Happy Moment with the family, ECoR announced gifts for the new born on Shramik Specials.
ECoR has appealed to the migrants not to panic. Efforts are being made to ensure that all of them are able to travel to their home states at the earliest from Railway Station Head on main line which is close to their existing location with the help of District Administrations.