West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday requested the ministry of railways to not send any Shramik Special trains to the state till May 26 as officials are busy in relief work after the havoc wreaked by Cyclone Amphan.
“As the district administrations are involved in relief and rehabilitation works, it will not be possible to receive special trains for the next few days. It is therefore requested that no train should be sent to West Bengal till May 26,” the Bengal CM was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
The letter from state chief secretary Rajiva Sinha to Chairman of Railway board V K Yadav on May 22 stated that the state has been severely impacted by Super Cyclone Amphan which caused extensive damage to the infrastructure.
At least 86 people in Bengal have died due to Cyclone Amphan. It was the region’s worst weather disaster and the authorities have been scrambling to restore normalcy.
West Bengal has received the least number of Shramik Special trains since such service began to ferry migrant labourers back home amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
Home Minister Amit Shah in a letter had alleged that Bengal was not allowing its migrants to return. Later, it was decided that the consent of the destination state was not required to operate these trains.
On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state and conducted an aerial survey of the Cyclone-hit areas with CM Banerjee.
Lending support, Modi said that the central government stands with Bengal in these testing times and announced Rs 1,000 crore for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by the Cyclone.
