E-Paper
Migrants left stranded as Gzb admin shifts registration facilities for special trains outside city limits
Ghaziabad:
Ghaziabad:
A day after thousands of migrant workers thronged the Ghanta Ghar Ramlila Ground to register themselves for Shramik special trains and flouted social distancing norms, the Ghaziabad administration on Tuesday shut down the facility and shifted it to a college campus in Modinagar, which is about 30 kilometres from Ghanta Ghar.
Similarly, the Kavi Nagar facility has been shifted to Morta near Delhi-Meerut Road, which is about 10 kilometres away from Kavi Nagar. Now, both the new facilities are outside city limits.
The Ghanta Ghar and Kavi Nagar facilities till Monday were used for preparing documentation and medical screening of migrant workers who wanted to board trains bound for cities in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, respectively.
On Tuesday, the migrants who wished to travel to UP cities were found getting their documentation done at Morta, while those trying to board trains to Bihar were required to get formalities completed at Modinagar.
“The documentation work for trains to cities in UP is being done at Morta, while that for trains to Bihar is taking place at Modinagar. We are trying to send migrant workers lodged in shelter homes to their home towns on a priority basis. Those having trains today are being taken to Ghaziabad railway station by UP Roadways buses. The migrants who have registered online will also be sent later on,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.
On Tuesday, six trains, three each to cities in UP and Bihar, were scheduled to leave from Ghaziabad railway station.
As the administration shut the two facilities in the city areas, the police were seen picking up some migrant workers from roads and shifting them to shelter homes by buses and even trucks.
The incident of some migrants boarding trucks was witnessed on NH-9 under the jurisdiction of Indirapuram police station area. The station house officer of Indirapuram was recently suspended and explanation of area’s circle officer was sought by the state officials after 16 workers had boarded a vehicle in an unauthorised manner from Indirpauram and the vehicle met accident in Auraiya in which 24 persons were killed. A set of 16 survivors who boarded the vehicle from Ghaziabad told the officials that they had boarded the vehicle in Indirapuram area.
“We are keeping a strict watch on movement of migrant workers. They are not allowed to travel afoot or by unsafe transport like trucks. We will get it inquired if migrants were made to board trucks from the highway by the police on Tuesday,” said Anshu Jain, circle officer of Indirapuram.
As the train documentation facilities were shifted out of city limits, many migrant workers walking on roads were left with no choice but to walk long distances in scorching heat to reach Morta and Modinagar to get formalities completed to board trains.
“We started walking yesterday from Khanpur Japti village in Loni and reached Ghanta Ghar Ramlila Ground, but cops drove us away. Then we reached Kavi Nagar Ramlila Ground and found it shut. We are a group of about 20 people who are daily wagers and wish to reach Jharkhand or to any city in Bihar where trains can carry us,” said Badru, a native of Godda in Jharkhand.
Like Badru, Mamta Devi also arrived at a shelter home near Delhi-Meerut Road from Ghookhna in order to get a train or bus to her home town in Vaishali district of Bihar. “My husband had gone to our home town to take care of our ailing elder daughter. I, along with my two minor daughters, were holed up in Ghaziabad for about two months due to the lockdown. On Tuesday, I finally decided to move out but there is no information about trains or buses,” she said.
Pradeep Babu, who works at a factory in Noida’s Sector 8, reached Morta on Tuesday along with his wife, sister and a minor child. But the family had to return empty handed after failing to get boarding passes for any trains travelling to their home town near Hathras.
“We started walking on foot and reached Lal Kuan on May 18. The police then sent us to Ghanta Ghar Ramlila Ground but no train was available. At 10.30pm, we were taken by a bus to Morta shelter home. Tuesday morning we could not find any train or bus, so we moved out and went to Lal Kuan. From there, the police again picked us up and we again arrived back to Morta,” Babu said.
