Over 3,000 migrant workers reach Odisha in Shramik Express trains from Gujarat, Kerala

Though the administration is yet to give the number of the people coming in buses, sources put the figure at over 5,000

Migrants stand in queue circles, painted to maintain social distancing after arriving from Kerala’s Ernakulam Railway Station by a special train at Khordha Railway Station, during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, in Khordha district. (Credit: PTI Photo)

Over 3,000 migrant workers stranded in Gujarat and Kerala returned to Odisha's Ganjam district by special Shramik Express trains on Monday, officials said.

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While around 2,400 workers came from Surat in Gujarat in two trains, around 640 workers reached Odisha from Ernakulam in Kerala in another train.

All the three trains have reached the Jagannathpur railway station on the outskirts of Berhampur, they said.

Another train carrying around 1,200 migrant labourers is likely to reach the Jagannathpur railway station on Monday late night, sources said. On Sunday, over 2,300 migrant workers returned in two trains from Surat and Aluva in Kerala.

"We have made elaborate arrangements to send the returnees to quarantine centres in their respective panchayats by buses after their arrival at Jagananthpur station. Preliminary health screening was done by the administration after their arrival," said an official.

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All the returnees will be placed under institutional quarantine for the next 14-days, he said.

Apart from trains, hundreds of migrant people are returning from Surat in Gujarat by buses.

Meanwhile, the district administration has decided to undertake massive health screening of the migrant workers returning to Ganjam, where two Surat returnees have tested positive for COVID-19.