A bulk of about 2.56 lakh migrant workers who have left Gujarat on Sharamik special trains amidst the coronavirus-induced lockdown till Monday travelled to Uttar Pradesh, a state government official said.
While about 1.76 lakh or 70 per cent of the 2.56 lakh migrants travelled to Uttar Pradesh, others set out on their journey to Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Chhatisgarh, he said.
Among various cities in Gujarat, the largest number of migrant workers have left for their home states on trains from the textile hub Surat, followed by Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and other districts, the official said.
About 86,400 migrant workers have left Surat on 72 trains, followed by 60,000 from Ahmedabad on 50 trains, he said, adding that more trains are being lined up to take them to their home states.
A total of 209 special trains have originated from Gujarat, which accounts for 45 per cent of the total 461 trains being operated from different states until Monday morning, said Ashwami Kumar, Secretary to Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
"Out of 209 Shramik special trains that left from various stations in Gujarat till Monday morning, 147 went to Uttar Pradesh, 23 to Bihar, 21 to Odisha, 11 to Madhya Pradesh, 6 to Jharkhand, and one to Chhatisgarh," he said in a video message.
Another train will leave for Uttarakhand, he said.
While 72 trains have left from Surat, 50 trains departed from Ahmedabad, 16 from Vadodara, 10 from Rajkot, seven from Morbi, six from Palanpur (in Banaskantha district), five each from Nadiad and Jamnagar, four each from Anand and Godhra (in Panchmahal district), and three each from Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Navsari, and Vapi among other stations, he said.
So far, 2.56 lakh migrant workers have left for their home states, and 36,000 more will leave by Monday on 30 more trains, Kumar added.
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