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Relief and apprehension among the homebound
HT talks some of the people who took a train journey on the first day of the resumption of rail services.
Over 8,000 thousand passengers travelled to different destinations on Tuesday as the Indian railways resumed its passenger services after over one and a half months of stoppage owing to the Covid-19 lockdown in the country . HT talks some of the people who took a train journey on the first day of the resumption of rail services.
Patna
Dhiraj Kumar Jaiswal, a supervisor at a private company at Ghaziabad, was among those travelling back to Delhi with six members of his family including his two children, wife and two relatives.
“With offices opening, I have no alternative but to return,” said Jaiswal, who has a masters degree in Business Administration. Jaiswal, 38, stranded at his Patna City home after he came for Holi, and then could not leave when train services were stopped on March 23 midnight.
“It was a tough period. I came for Holi festival and got stuck up due to lockdown,” he said. Asked if the company paid him for the period, he said, “I have to check my salary once I reach Delhi. My mobile was also not working.”
Dehradun
Omkar Singh, 20, from Champawat district, was working at a hotel in Vadodara. Singh reached Uttarakhand and was working in Gujarat for two years.
“We did not get our salary for the past three months and still had to pay for my accommodation and food expenses. Two years ago, I went to Gujarat empty-handed and now, after two years, I have returned home the same way. I had to face many difficulties to return home, but it finally feels that the situation might improve a little because at least I will be home,” said Singh, after reaching Katgodam railway station in Uttarakhand at 11.30 p.m on Monday night from Surat in Gujarat.
Kolkata
PB Verma, 80, and his wife, Prema Verma, had come to Kolkata to stay with their son, Umesh, a senior employee in a nationalised bank. They could not go back because of the lockdown. On Tuesday, they boarded the special train from Kolkata to Delhi and left for their home in Allahabad (which is on the Kolkata-Delhi train route).
“We have a house at Allahabad and had come here to stay with our son during Holi. We were supposed to leave in the last week of April. But we got stuck. Today, I am relieved that I am going back home. But I am also apprehensive as Covid-19 is spreading fast and I am travelling in a train with hundreds of other passengers,” said Verma.
Mumbai
Nafees Mohammed, 55, travelled from Khopoli in Maharashtra,was on his way from Mumbai to New Delhi. Nafees, who works on a construction site, travelled along with four other co-passengers from Khopoli to Mumbai railway station in a taxi. He arrived three hours before departure of the train Mumbai.
“I have come along with people who used to work with me. We have been stuck for 50 days and have no way to go. There are limited sources available in Khopoli and I can’t wait to reach Delhi and meet my children. We suffered a lot for 50 days and had little money to commute.” Nafees said.
Jammu
Javed Ahmed, 55, with his two brothers, reached Jammu Tawi railway station on Tuesday afternoon from Goa, where he runs a shop of Kashmiri jewellery and trinkets. They decided to return as tourism in Goa is unlikely to pick up in the coming months.
“We three brothers are heading home to Srinagar. We have been running a shop in Goa for the past 18 years but now we have to leave. We are happy that they we will reach home soon. We may have to spend a few days in quarantine but that it is not an issue,” said Ahmed.
He is not optimistic about his prospects in Goa. “If the situation improves across the world, especially in Europe, then only Goa tourism has a chance,” Javed, who departed on a Shramik Special train to Udhampur, said.
Amritsar
Rameshwar Parshad Bharadwaj, 24, was worried about his old parents and that was why he wanted to return to Bihar from Amritsar. He, along with his wife and three children, left for his home on a Shramik Express train on Tuesday evening. The train was going to Janjgir Champa in Bihar. He said he has been coming to Punjab every year for the past eight years to work in brick kilns.
“Although the work stopped since the lockdown was imposed, we were getting everything necessary to live. We were concerned about my parents at home,” he said.
