Bhubaneswar: In a move to provide benefit to all those persons who have been waiting to travel through trains for a long time but were unable to travel due to lock down, Indian Railways is running Shramik Special Trains from different parts of the country to the destination of stranded passengers. More than 2.5 lakh passengers returned to Odisha through Shramik Special Train till June 12, 2020.
East Coast Railway has handled about 558 Shramik Special Trains from its jurisdiction from 1st week of May. Out of the above number of Shramik Special Trains, ECoR has received 238 Shramik Special trains in its jurisdiction. 14 Shramik Special trains were sent from ECoR jurisdiction towards different places including one from Sambalpur, two from Bhubaneswar and rest from Visakhapatnam. Out of the above 235 Shramik special trains to Odisha, almost half of them received from Gujarat. Special Shramik trains have also been received from Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi and Maharashtra. About 306 Shramik Special trains also passed safely through ECoR jurisdiction, which were provided meals, water and other services at different stations in ECoR.
Standard social distancing guidelines are being followed when receiving or sending passengers at stations in ECoR jurisdiction by making queues and making circles marked all along the platforms. This is being done in close coordination with State Government.
East Coast Railway is providing food packets and water bottles for the passengers of all Shramik Special trains going to various states with the help of IRCTC in ECoR jurisdiction. Till June 6, about 10 lakh food packets with water bottles have been provided to the passengers of Shramik Special trains.
Hygiene protocols in view of spread of COVID-19 disease being observed by ECoR at various stations when handling Shramik Special trains. Arrangements have been made to check the health condition of the passengers at stations when receiving and sending to their destinations. All passengers are being checked with their temperature. Passengers are getting facilities of hand sanitisation through pedal operated system. Apart from this all station premises are being sanitized before and after receiving Shramik Special trains with the help of local administration at some places. Healthcare services are being provided by ECoR on short notices also, if any complaints received from Shramik Special trains.
In East Coast Railway jurisdiction, three babies have been born and all the three babies along with their mothers were properly shifted to government hospitals. Of the three babies, two have been born at Titilagarh and one at Bolangir. That means, all three are from Bolangir district of Odisha. To cheer this Happy Moment with the family, ECoR announced gifts for the new born on Shramik Specials.
ECoR appeals to the migrants not to panic. Efforts are being made to ensure that all of them are able to travel to their home states at the earliest from Railway Station Head on main line which is close to their existing location with the help of district administrations.
