Mumbai: The Central Railway has informed that it hasn't received any request from the Kerala government to run special trains to ferry back home Keralites stranded in this capital city of Maharashtra due to the lockdown restrictions. The requests for special trains are usually made after each state assesses the number of people stuck in other states and makes requisite arrangements to receive them.
The request for a special train is made between chief secretaries of respective states, the railway authorities said. The request is later passed on to the railway ministry, which will give directions to the respective railway divisions to run special services.
The Central Railway, which is headquartered here, had run special trains on Nasik-Bhopal, Nasik-Lucknow and Bhiwandi-Gorakhpur routes. And a fourth train is from Nagpur to Lucknow. In a bid to reduce heavy passenger rush, the trains are originating from relatively small stations such as Bhiwandi and Nasik instead of from stations in big cities like Mumbai and Pune. The plan is to start services from bigger cities later.
As per rough estimates, close to 6 lakh people, hailing from other states, want to return to their home towns. The authorities concerned are planning to operate ‘migrant special’ trains till May 17, when the third round of lockdown is slated to end. Requests for special trains originating from Maharashtra have come more from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Stranded Keralites call for special trains
The Keralites stuck here have demanded to immediately announce 'COVID special' trains to Kerala. They are a worried lot as there is no response from the Kerala government after they had registered their names on the NORKA (Non-Resident Keralites Affairs) website to safely return home.
“We came to know from hearsay that first preference is given to people who came to Mumbai for a visit and got stuck here due to the lockdown curbs. And the next priority is for those who own vehicles. But hundreds of Keralites, who had registered their names but don’t fall into these brackets, are stranded in Mumbai and on the outskirts of this metropolis,” said Nazar Vadakalthil, a native of Malappuram.
“We are losing sleep over the fact that many Keralites are dying without getting proper medical care. People with other ailments can avail medical services from a Mumbai hospital only if they can produce a certificate validating that they are not suffering from COVID-19. The Kerala government should immediately take the initiative to make available special trains from Mumbai,” he noted.
Nazar, who resides at Dahisar, added that a group of 150 people, including his friends and neighbours, had registered under NORKA to return to Kerala.
