2,280 labourers leave for UP, Bihar

As many as 2,280 migrant labourers, who were stranded in the district, left for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from Mangalore Junction Railway Station (MAJ) on Sunday.

A total of 20,000 migrant labourers from North India had registered in ‘sevasindhu’ portal of government seeking passes to travel outside the state.

On Saturday, 1,500 labourers had left for Jharkhand in a Shramik Special train. On Monday, 1,500 labourers will leave for Jharkhand while another 1,500 will leave for Uttar Pradesh in two trains.

Nodal Officer and MUDA Commissioner Dinesh Kumar said, “The labourers were sent back to their villages as per the Covid-19 lockdown guidelines issued by the government. The labourers were given food and water. Arrangements had been made to ensure social distancing norms were not violated by the passengers.”

Return to DK

A total of 2,500 people had registered in the sevasindhu portal to return to Dakshina Kannada district. Already, 150 people, stranded in Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, have reached the district.

A huge number of people from Maharashtra and New Delhi had registered in the portal to return to the district and were awaiting approval from the governments to return.

The authorities had not given permission for those hailing from high risk states to return to the district.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said the service of 23 buses were utilised to ferry labourers from different places to the railway station. All the labourers underwent health check-up before boarding the train, she added.

District In-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said, “About 20 train services were sought in order to send the stranded labourers in Dakshina Kannada district to their states. The labourers will be sent back in a phased manner.”