Coronavirus lockdown: 5 special trains with migrants leave Kerala on May 2

In this photo taken on May 1, 2020, migrant workers greet Kerala state officials out of the windows as they sit on a train leaving to Odisha at Aluva railway station in Kochi. Credit: AFP Photo

Five special trains for migrant workers were being operated to various parts of the country from Kerala on Saturday.

While one train was operated to Ranchi from Thiruvananthapuram, another was operated to Dhanbad from Kozhikode in North Kerala. Two trains were operated to Patna from Aluva in Ernakulam and Tirur in Malappuram district.

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A second train to Bhubaneswar was operated from Ernakulam. First train from Kerala for migrants was also operated to Bhubaneswar on Friday. Around 1,200 migrant workers are being accommodated in each train.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that migrants were being allowed to travel after obtaining NOC from destination places. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thanked Kerala for the arrangements provided for the migrant workers from the state. Kerala was ready to welcome back the migrants once the COVID-19 alerts were over, said Vijayan.

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