No trains from Mumbai to other states in near future, says govt

The state government has clarified that there will be no special trains plying from Mumbai to other states in the near future and that the responsibility of carrying

The state government has clarified that there will be no special trains plying from Mumbai to other states in the near future and that the responsibility of carrying out health check-up of migrants returning to their hometowns lies with the respective states.

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In a video conference with the media on Monday, Bhushan Gagrani, principal secretary of state government, said travel of people from red zones is still prohibited. “We have already sent 35,000 migrants to their respective states in trains and buses. A few trains were sent to Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh from Nashik and other places, but the same cannot be done from Mumbai as it is a largely affected red zone. If the respective states are willing to arrange for logistics for their travel by road we are giving them permissions,” Gagrani said.

He said district authorities have been directed to collect information from migrants to avoid last minute hassle. While talking about health check-up of migrants for Covid-19 infection, Gagrani said migrants in shelter camps have been going through regular check-ups. “If they are asymptomatic, there is no need to conduct tests on them. The states receiving them should conduct tests if they find symptoms,” he said.

State minority affairs minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government was not willing to take their citizens, who are stranded in Maharashtra, back. “There are at least 25 people hailing from UP who are stuck in Maharashtra. The UP government is dilly-dallying the process of giving permissions for their journey demanding to conduct Covid-19 tests on them. Performing tests on such large number of people may take at least one-and-a-half year. While other states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh have given permissions, UP has been indulging in the delay tactics as they do not want take back these people,” he said.

State Congress has announced to bear the travelling expenses of migrants stuck in Maharashtra. The party’s state unit chief Balasaheb Thorat said as announced by the party president Sonia Gandhi, the Maharashtra unit has taken decision to bear the ticket cost of the migrants who wish to go back.

Meanwhile, the state government has written to the Centre for a special train for 1,069 students from the state who are stuck in Delhi. Most of the stranded students are enrolled with institutions tutoring for civil service examinations. According to the officials from the disaster management cell, they are expecting the arrangement for the special train in next few days.

Govt refutes allegation of negligence in sending stranded Sikh pilgrims

Maharashtra government has refuted the charges of negligence by state authorities in Nanded while sending Sikh pilgrims stranded in Hazur Sahib Gurudwara. “We have been regularly checking up on these pilgrims at Gurudwara for symptoms as per the protocol set by the Central government. We were not expected to conduct the tests on them. In fact, our proposal of sending 10 buses daily to avoid crowding was turned down by the Punjab government. 75 buses were sent to Nanded to fetch the pilgrims,” said Nitin Kareer, additional chief secretary, Maharashtra government.

Punjab Health minister Balbir S Sidhu alleged they were facing problems of more positive patients as Maharashtra government did not conduct tests on the pilgrims. “Had they conducted tests and informed us about the results, we would have treated them accordingly,” he told an agency in Punjab.

Another official from Nanded collectorate said the blame-game is meaningless as nobody among the more than 3,000 stranded pilgrims had the symptoms. “They contracted the infection during their travel which has led to more people testing positive in Nanded due to spread of the virus through drivers,” he said.