E-Paper
Shramik special train from Himachal’s Amb to Howrah cancelled due to Cyclone Amphan
The new departure dates will be announced soon
The railways has cancelled a Shramik special train scheduled to run from Amb in Himachal Pradesh to Howrah in West Bengal as the east coast braces up for Cyclone Amphan.
Una deputy commissioner Sandeep Kumar said the train was to depart from Amb railway station on Wednesday with stranded residents of West Bengal. “More than 1,400 residents of West Bengal had registered themselves for the special train,” he said.
The new departure dates will be announced soon, he added.
Cyclone Amphan is likely to make a landfall on the West Bengal coast on Wednesday.
617 HIMACHALIS RETURN HOME
As many as 617 residents of Himachal, who were stranded in Maharashtra, returned home on Tuesday in a Shramik special that arrived at Una from Pune.
The district administration had made arrangements for screening of the passengers and their further travel to home districts.
The DC said among the returnees, 215 were from Kangra, 70 from Una; 68 from Hamirpur; 63 each from Mandi and Shimla; 41 from Solan; 37 from Kullu; 28 from Chamba; 16 from Bilaspur; Nine from Sirmaur and two from Kinnaur.
He said two people, one from Uttarakhand and other from Garhshankar in Punjab also arrived onboard the same train.
Kumar said the passengers were provided food and juice on their arrival by the Radha Soami Satsang Beas’s Bhadsaali branch.
The returnees were sent home in Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses and will be institutionally quarantined in their respective districts.
RETURNEES THANK HP GOVT
Himachal residents, who arrived from Pune on Tuesday expressed gratitude to the state government for facilitating their return.
Amit Kumar from Sunni of Shimla district, who works in a hotel at Pune, said he had no hope of returning home.“I was not getting any support at the place I was stranded and my savings were also draining,” he said, adding that he got curfew passes after chief minister Jai Ram Thakur intervened.
Another returnee Jyoti, hailing from Jwali area of Kangra district, said the passengers were provided best facilities in the train.“I am overwhelmed and feeling relaxed after reaching home. I want to thank the state government for making it happen,” she said.
