IMPHAL: At least 1,200 people from Manipur stranded in Chennai will be brought back in a special train that will reach Jiribam at the state's border with Assam on May 12, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said.
The train will start from Chennai later on Saturday, he said in a video message on Friday night.
From Jiribam they will be brought to Imphal, around 200 km away, in special buses, Singh said.
All of them will have to undergo isolation at the institutional quarantine centres set up at schools and colleges with the assistance of local MLAs and other organisations.
Singh said that they will undergo full medical checkup before leaving Chennai and will further undergo check-up, including thermal screening, after reaching Jiribam.
The cost of ferrying the stranded people from Chennai to Jiribam is around Rs 12,00,600, while the cost of transporting them in 50 buses is around Rs 1,05,000, Singh said.
Two other special trains carrying migrants will also depart from Punjab and Chandigarh on May 12 and May 14, respectively, he added.
Around 45,000 people from Manipur stranded in various parts of the country have registered on tengbang.
in, the portal set up by the state government, and 34,200 want to return, according to Chief Secretary J Suresh Babu.