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Gzb: Migrant workers who missed first train asked to wait till another arrangement
Ghaziabad: Migrant workers in Ghaziabad who have booked tickets online for the ‘Shramik Special’ trains to go to their home states or districts are facing a variety
Ghaziabad: Migrant workers in Ghaziabad who have booked tickets online for the ‘Shramik Special’ trains to go to their home states or districts are facing a variety of issues.
A number of workers who were to board the first train to Bihar on Friday, came yet again on Saturday at the Ghanta Ghar Ramlila Ground, where screening of passengers and boarding passes are getting issued.
Ram Babu, a migrant worker from Madhepura in Bihar, was to board a train home on Friday, for which he had been issued a boarding pass the same day. His train departed with 1,420 passengers onboard on Friday night.
As he was unable to get on the train, he came to the Ground again on Saturday, hoping to catch another train, which was scheduled for departure from the Ghaziabad junction at 7pm, but that endeavour, too, failed.
“I somehow got a ticket booked online for train travel to my hometown. I procured the boarding pass on Friday but could not board the train as there was a heavy rush. My mother passed away a week ago in my hometown and I need to go home urgently. I went there on Saturday again but officials told me that the second train is not going to any place near to my home town,” said Babu, who worked as a daily wager at Narela in Delhi.
Girdhari, another migrant worker who arrived from Haryana and had booked a train seat for Friday, came yet again on Saturday hoping to board the second train leaving for Bihar, being unable to board the previous day’s train.
“After our passes were checked and our medical screening was done, we were told that the train is full and we will have to wait till the next train on the same route is announced,” he said.
Likewise, Sita Devi, a domestic helper who stays at Bhovapur near Kaushambi and is from Chappra in Bihar, missed her train on Friday. She came with her two minor daughters and a son in the hope that officials will allow them seats in the train being run Saturday.
“There was a lot of barricading by the police in Bhovapur and when we tried to move out, the cops drove us away. So we could not get to Ghanta Ghar. On Saturday, we walked all the way from Kaushambi but the officials told us that the other train will not go to our home district in Bihar,” she said.
The train which left Saturday was scheduled to go through the three cities of Khagaria, Araria and Purnia in Bihar. The first train on Friday was scheduled for the three cities of Muzaffarpur, Chappra and Hajipur in Bihar.
Ghonghar, another migrant, from Saharsa in Bihar, stayed at a shelter home after he could not board Friday train, while Mukesh Kumar and his two friends, who were to board Saturday’s train, were found by an HT team at Sukh Sagar Farm House in the Kavi Nagar Industrial Area around 3pm.
“We were picked up by the police and brought to the shelter home. Till 3pm, we could not move out but later, when we showed them the SMS (of the train bookings), they allowed us to leave. It will take us more than one hour to reach the screening area and we hope that we catch our train after completion of formalities,” he added while leaving the shelter home with his friends.
According to officials deputed to supervise passenger operations and screening process at the Ghanta Ghar Ramlila Ground, Friday’s train was full, with 1,420 passengers on board, while Saturday’s train will have a capacity of only 1,200 passengers.
“Those who missed their journey should be submitting their boarding passes to us along with their mobile numbers. When the next train to their destination is announced, our teams will give them a call on priority. Till then, we have made arrangements for such persons for their stay at our shelter homes,” said Sanjay Kumar, the Ghaziabad Development Authority’s officer on special duty, who is supervising operations at Ramlila Grounds.
“We cannot allow such passengers to board Saturday’s train as it has different routes and may drop them far away from their hometowns and they will face commuting issues again,” he added.
Ghaziabad senior superintendent of police Kalanidhi Naithani, on the other hand, said that he has already issued instructions to personnel that anyone showing their train booking SMS or boarding passes should not be stopped.
“Such passengers must be allowed to leave homes and reach Ghanta Ghar. We will issue instructions again in case any passengers have faced any such problem,” he added.
Uttar Pradesh officials said so far, 449 trains have arrived in the state from different states.
“Seventy two more trains will come to UP on Saturday. We have given permissions for another set of 286 trains which will arrive with migrant workers. Within the next 2-3 days, when these trains arrive, we will have about 9.5 lakh migrant workers who would have arrived in UP,” said Awanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary (home).
