After covering 1,836 km, the first special train with 24 coaches from Kerala carrying around 1,150 Odia migrant workers reached Jaganathpur station in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Sunday morning.
The migrant workers mostly worked at Perumbavoor and Aluva in Ernakulam district of Kerala and boarded the train from Aluva on Saturday evening. This is the second special train to transport the stranded migrant workers across the country following COVID-19 lockdown. The first such train had travelled from Telangana to Jharkhand.
Jaganathpur station on the outskirts of Berhampur was the first stoppage of this special train in Odisha where over 511 migrant labourers hailing from south Odisha districts got down. They included 382 from Kandhamal, 130 from Ganjam, and 17 from Rayagada districts.
Adhering to social distancing norms, the migrant workers were allowed to get down in batches and made to undergo medical screening. Jagannathpur station was put under tight police security. The administration has arranged buses for the transport of these returnees to their respective panchayats and districts for the 14-day quarantine. Fourteen buses will transport the migrant workers to Kandhamal district.
At the next stop of this special train, Khurda Road junction, 283 migrants from Kendrapara district, 88 from Kendujhar district are scheduled to alight.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 positive cases were reported for the first time in Ganjam district of Odisha. According to the State health department on Sunday morning, two persons of Ganjam district have been found to be infected with the virus, taking the total number of cases in Odisha to 159.
