125 Shramik trains planned for Maha, state gave info on only 41: Railways
The Indian Railways has claimed that the Maharashtra government had not provided information about migrants travelling on ‘Shramil Special’ trains as a result of which many trains could not be operated.
The Railways said it had planned to operate 125 trains to evacuate migrants from the state on Tuesday (May 26), but the government gave information about only 41 trains. Of these 41 trains, only 39 could run as authorities could not bring passengers to stations, the Railways said in a statement. So, these two trains had to be cancelled.
“After meticulous planning and sustained effort, the Railways mobilised its resources at a very short notice and prepared 125 Shramik trains to depart from Maharashtra on May 26,” a statement issued by the Railways said.
Where is the list for 125 trains from Maharashtra? As of 2am, received list of only 46 trains of which 5 are to West Bengal and Odisha which cannot operate due to cyclone Amphan.
We are notifying only 41 trains for today despite being prepared for 125 !!!
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 24, 2020
The national transporter had planned to operate 50 trains from Maharashtra until 3 pm. But not even a single train could depart until 12.30 pm due to lack of passengers. Migrants boarded the first train at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) at 12.30 pm, the Railways said. Until 3 pm, only 13 trains departed the station, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.
According to the Railways, 68 trains were set to leave for Uttar Pradesh, 27 for Bihar, 41 for West Bengal, two each for Odisha and Tamil Nadu, and one each for Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Kerala.
The Maharashtra government’s allegation that not enough trains were being provided to the state had escalated into a political slugfest between Goyal and the state government. Goyal on May 24 night said, “We are ready to provide 125 Shramik Special trains to Maharashtra.”
Replying to Goyal, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had tweeted, “Maharashtra government has given you a list of workers who wish to return home. The only request is that the train should reach the station, as announced earlier. The Gorakhpur-bound train had reached Odisha.”
He also asked Goyal if the Ministry of Railways had made any such list while running the Nagpur-Udhampur migrant train on May 14.
