Admin sets up transport cell; deploys patrol teams, 52 buses for migrants

Varanasi: Migrant workers continued to arrive on foot, bicycles and trucks in hordes during the last 24 hours, braving scorching heat even as the state government has directed officials of all districts to stop them from endangering their lives and increasing the risk of spreading infection by allowing their unchecked movement.
Senior officials decided to tackle the situation and after deliberations established a transport cell to monitor the movement of migrants and making arrangements for their safe and comfortable journey.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma convened a meeting with SSP Prabhakar Chaudhary and officials of transport department, UPSRTC and traffic police on Sunday to finalise the strategy in this regard.
The DM asked officials to set up a transport cell at police control room in Chetganj with immediate effect to monitor the movement of migrants and make necessary arrangements to ensure their safe and comfortable journey. Police and district officials have been asked to intercept migrants moving on foot, bicycles and truck and send them to their destinations in buses. The district administration has provided 52 buses of UPSRTC to the transport cell.
Sharma asked officials to deploy personnel in three shifts to stop migrants and said they should report on hourly basis.
He said police and patrolling teams will keep sharp vigil on movement of migrants and those arriving have to be stopped and taken to dispatch centres at Mohansarai and Babatpur areas.
“We have engaged 34 buses for rural areas and 18 buses for city. They will operate from the two dispatch centres. Each bus will have security personnel,” the DM said.
Divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal said UPSRTC buses will take the migrants up to their districts concerned in UP. In case of migrants hailing from Bihar and Jharkhand, the buses will drop them at border in Chandauli district.