2,000 migrant workers gather in Boisar; police say they were misinformed about special train

On Monday afternoon, a train with 1,700 migrants had left for Jaunpur from Palghar station.

Around 2,000 migrants - men, women and children - gathered at a school in Boisar, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, on Tuesday hoping to board a ‘Shramik’ special train to their native place in Bihar.

Migrants on waiting outside Borivali railway station to board a special train to reach their native places during the Covid-19 lockdown, in Mumbai on Monday.(ANI Photo)

These people started gathering since 6 am after hearing that a special train will run from Palghar to Patna on Tuesday afternoon. The administration, however, denied that it plans to run any such train.

“The migrants assembled at the TVM (Tarapur Vidya Mandir) ground in the hope that a medical test will be conducted and buses will transport them from Boisar to Palghar station as was done on Monday morning,” said senior PI Pradip Kasbe of Boisar MIDC police station.

So far, the government has no plans to start train to Patna from Palghar, he added.

On Monday afternoon, a train with 1,700 migrants had left for Jaunpur from Palghar station.

“Some of the migrants had e-passes issued by the district collector while some did not so the gram sevaks of Boisar gram panchayat got down to work and issued the e-forms to them and also filled the details as they were illiterate,” said Kasbe.

The policeman said that these labourers did not follow social distancing norms. “It was difficult to convince the huge crowd but we managed to cool down their fiery tempers and suggested to sit apart and not over crowd,” said Kasbe.

He also said that no case was filed against these labourers “as they did not commit any crime but were just anxious to return home”.

“We are probing the source of the wrong information which made the crowd gather at the school premises,” said Kasbe.

Around 1,700 migrant workers were were medically tested and taken to Palghar station from the same school ground to board a ‘Shramik Express’ to Jaunpur.