After the Uttar Pradesh government’s orders, the district administration of Gautam Buddh Nagar has decided to run special trains for migrant workers who are held up in the district because of lockdown from Saturday, an official release said.
In the first cycle, four trains will take migrant workers of Bihar to their homes. The trains will be run from Dankaur and Dadri stations of Gautam Buddh Nagar to Buxar, Aurangabad, Sasaram and Siwan. The first train will depart from Dadri to Aurangabad at 11 a.m. on Saturday. According to sources, around 7,500 workers from Bihar have registered so far.
Suhas L.Y., District Magistrate, Gautam Buddh Nagar, said those who had registered themselves on the Junsunwai portal need not register again and those who had not should do so as soon as possible.
“According to the details provided during the registration, the date of the journey, train number and station would be communicated through SMS. This SMS would work as a ticket during the course of the journey,” said Mr. Suhas.
He further said a separate SMS would communicate the place in Gautam Buddh Nagar from where they would board a bus to the railway station. Again, the SMS would be as good as a bus ticket. “If a worker doesn’t receive the SMS, he should wait for his turn and not rush to the stations in panic,” the DM added. Denying reports, he clarified that no train was in operation from Gautam Buddh Nagar on Friday.
Sources said the passengers had been divided between Dadri and Dankaur because both were small stations with limited staff and do not have the capacity to handle a large influx of passengers. The health department has constituted teams to screen passengers before boarding.
Similar trains are expected to run from Ghaziabad from Saturday to Patna and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.