End of an ordeal for over 1,200 migrant labourers
HYDERABAD: For 1,225 migrant labourers, it was an end of an ordeal when a special train departed from the Lingampally railway station in Hyderabad taking them to Hatia in Jharkhand. Just as the train with 24 coaches moved forward, the faces of the labourers split into smiles as the unremitting agony that they have been through without work and living in squalor was coming to an end at last. The train chugged out at about 4.50 am.
Two days after the Central government flashed the green light to migrant workers to leave for their home towns, the train set off from Lingampally. The special train was run by the Railways as requested by the Telangana government. Sources in the South Central Railway (SCR) told Express that as of now, it was a one-off special train. If more trains have to be arranged, they should receive instructions from the Ministry of Railways to this effect.
Early in the day, the migrant labourers were brought to Lingampally in 56 buses arranged by the State government. The station was thoroughly barricaded and adequate RPF, GRP and local police personnel were deployed to guard the station from all sides to prevent the entry of unauthorised persons.
The labourers were guided by the RPF teams to the coaches and were made to sit according to social distancing norms.
Tickets were issued to them by the commercial staff, while food packets and water bottles were provided to them by State government officials. The SCR officials informed that all necessary precautions such as prior screening of passengers at the station and in the train were followed. There were 54 labourers per coach and they were given sanitisers, masks and gloves.