CHENNAI: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday requested the Centre to direct the Railways to make arrangements to quarantine all the passengers who arrive in Chennai on May 14 and 16 through special trains until the screening tests are over.
The Chief Minister wrote letters to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in this regard.
He also reiterated the demand that train service should not be resumed to Chennai until the infection is contained in the State and also considering the increase in the coronavirus positive cases in Tamil Nadu.
The Chief Minister while participating in the video conference meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, requested him not to resume train services to Tamil Nadu till May 31.
However, Railways has conveyed that since reservations have already been made, only for two days - May 14 and May 16, special trains would reach Chennai and that other routine train services would not be resumed.
"The Rajdhani Express which accommodates 1,100 passengers is an air-conditioned train. Coronavirus infection spreads through air-conditioning and all passengers can be allowed into Tamil Nadu only after subjecting them to RT-PCR test.
"Considering the practical difficulties in conducting screening tests for over 1,000 passengers at a time, these passengers should be quarantined through Railways. After the tests are over within a day or two, those who have the infection will be admitted to the hospital and others would be quarantined,” the Chief Minister has conveyed in his letters to the Union Home Minister and Railways Minister.