E-Paper
Special train to ferry Himachal residents stranded in Goa
He said that the special train would start from Goa on May 13 or 14.
The Centre has agreed to run a special train from Goa to Una town in Himachal Pradesh to facilitate the return of state’’s residents stranded in Goa, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Sunday.
Interacting through a videoconference from Shimla with those stranded across Goa due to the countrywide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, the CM said that he had requested railways minister Piyush Goyal to ply a special train for them.
He said that the special train would start from Goa on May 13 or 14.
Thakur said 1,204 Himachal residents are stranded in Goa, including 398 from Mandi, 246 from Kullu, 241 from Kangra, 105 from Chamba, 70 from Shimla, and 43 from Solan districts.
He said his government was committed to the welfare of its people working in various parts of the country.
He said that the government will try to fully utilise the skill and expertise of people coming back to their homes. “Returnees will be home quarantined as Covid-19 cases are witnessing a spike in the state which is a matter of concern,” the CM said.
More than one lakh people stranded in different parts of the country have already returned to the state. The government ran special buses to bring back Himachal residents stranded in Chandigarh. The rise in Covid-19 cases has set fresh alarms for the government. A total of 53 persons have tested positive for coronavirus.
There are about 52,763 Himachalis stranded in different parts of the country that have applied for an e-pass, and about 63,044 people of different states are stranded in Himachal Pradesh who are keen to return to their native places. So far 30,219 people of other states have already returned to their native places.
“I have directed the all the government officials concerned to persuade the workers from the different parts of the country to defer their plans to return back home on foot as it would hamper developmental projects in the state,” said Thakur who presided over a meeting of nodal officers appointed to facilitate the return of stranded Himachalis.
Thakur said that his government has decided that people coming to the state from other parts of the country would be quarantined before allowing them to go home. He said that all the Himachalis coming from Punjab, Maharashtra and from other red zones of the country would be tested for Covid-19.
