Around 3,300 Jammu and Kashmir residents, including 1,200 students who were stranded in various parts of Maharashtra have been sent back to their homes by four Shramik Special trains during the past 10 days, officials said.
This is the highest number of Shramik Special trains deployed in any single state for the evacuation of stranded J&K residents.
Around 600 stranded people from J&K including 200 students, left for Udhampur Railway Station from Mumbai’s Bandra Terminus Saturday evening in the fourth and last Special Shramik Train. People who boarded this train were mostly stranded in two key districts of Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban. These stranded persons include patients, traders, handicraft vendors, labourers and employees of banks, private sector and government employees. There are also residents from the union territory of Ladakh on this train who were stranded in Mumbai and its adjoining areas.
Around 30 cancer patients from J&K and their attendants were stranded in Mumbai since the countrywide lockdown was announced by the Government in March. Almost all of them have been evacuated except a couple of such patients who are staying back for treatment.
Around 700 of those evacuated, including 100 students, had left for Udhampur from Thane Railway Station in Navi Mumbai by a Shramik Special train on May 22.
Earlier, around 1,000 others, including 500 students were evacuated from Pune by a Shramik Special train on May 19 while another 1,000 residents, including 400 students, were evacuated from Nagpur on May 14.
District administrations in Jammu and Kashmir and local NGOs in Maharashtra had reached out to the stranded people during the lockdown to ensure adequate provision of food, rations and other basic amenities.
In the south-western region, around 800 J&K residents including 35 students were evacuated by Shramik Special train from Kerala on May 20.
Around 1,800 people including 17 students were evacuated by two trains from Goa on May 10 and 12.
A total of 5,700 people including 1,200 students from J&K have so far been brought back to the union territory by seven special trains from Maharashtra, Kerala and Goa.
