Migrant workers wait at Kharadi for the special bus to their hometown in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday.
With the Union government scrapping the need of obtain the consent of destination states to dispatch a Shramik Special train, the Pune district administration plans to send out 10 such trains per day to various states, especially Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, to ferry the lakhs of workers stuck here. Till now, authorities have been running four to five trains a day.
Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said following the Union government’s amended directives, he held discussions with Divisional Railway Manager Renu Sharma, and a policy to increase daily departures has been devised.
“The railway authorities have conveyed to us that they can operate seven Shramik Specials from Pune station, two from Uruli station and two from Daund station. Thus, 11 trains can depart Pune every day,” said Ram.
Officials had earlier said that due to the delay in obtaining consent from receiving states, most notably Uttar Pradesh, fewer trains were being sent and this had created a ‘backlog’.
The district administration had earlier planned to send only two trains on Wednesday, but after the latest directive, six more trains have been added to the schedule, said Ram. “Eight trains will be dispatched from Pune district, taking over 11,000 passengers home,” said Ram.
According to Pune Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar, from across Pune Division, a total of 66 trains have been operated, with 85,590 inter-state passengers using the facility. As many as 76,294 migrants were sent to their home states in 5,871 buses operated by the administration.
No pillion riding allowed
Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar has said that as per the revised guidelines, there was no restriction on intra-district vehicular movement (except in containment areas), but only the driver and two others are allowed in a four-wheeler, while no pillion riding will be allowed on two-wheelers. There is no permission for operation of public transport or auto-rickshaws.