74,218 J&K residents stranded elsewhere brought back so far

The Jammu and Kashmir government has so far brought back 74,218 residents of the Union Territory, who were stranded elsewhere due to the ongoing lockdown, and transported them to their home towns through COVID special trains, buses and planes. The government has evacuated 59,492 residents of Jammu and Kashmir, who were stranded in other states and Union territories, through Lakhanpur, besides bringing about 14,225 people back home through special trains at the Jammu and Udhampur railway stations, officials said.

In addition, 501 passengers, including students, have been brought back on special planes, they added. Also, 1,844 stranded passengers have entered the Union Territory through Lakhanpur from May 18 to May 19 morning, while 890 passengers reached Jammu in the sixth COVID special train on Tuesday and about 510 passengers reached Udhampur from Moradabad in the 10th train, the officials said.

So far, six trains have reached Jammu with a total of 5,508 stranded passengers belonging to different districts, while 8,717 passengers have reached Udhampur in 10 special trains. Besides, two trains carrying about 1,400 passengers from Bhopal and Bengaluru are expected to reach Udhampur in the evening, they added. The Jammu, Udhampur, Kathua and Srinagar district administrations, under the guidance of their respective deputy commissioners, have evolved a multi-pronged strategy to ensure that all requisite arrangements and facilities are in place for an organised and convenient boarding and de-boarding of the returnees at the railway stations and airport and their journey towards their home districts.

The administration is ensuring a 100-per cent sampling of the returnees, which is being done at the kiosks set up at the stations. Besides, an elaborate transport system has been established to take the passengers to their native districts for the administrative quarantine while strictly adhering to the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the MHA and MoFHW, the officials said. "Elaborate arrangements have been put in place for the reception and departure of these passengers to their homes in different districts of Jammu and Kashmir. It is being ensured that during the boarding and deboarding process, the passengers observe social distancing and wear masks.

"Besides, complete protection of the administrative staff and others on duty is being ensured," an officer said. According to an official communiqué, of the 59,492 returnees brought back through Lakhanpur till Tuesday morning, 13,240 came from Punjab, 19,616 from Himachal Pradesh, 21 from Andhra Pradesh, 5,600 from Delhi, 1,290 from Gujarat, 2,215 from Rajasthan, 3,499 from Haryana, 110 from Chhattisgarh, 3,050 from Uttarakhand, 587 from Maharashtra, 3,834 from Uttar Pradesh, 42 from Odisha, 244 from Assam, 898 from Madhya Pradesh, 88 from Dehradun, 906 from Chandigarh, 635 from Telangana, seven from Karnataka, 52 from Chennai, 236 from Bihar, 46 from West Bengal, 26 from Jharkhand, three from Nepal and 3,247 from other states and Union territories.

A special train carrying people from Jammu and Kashmir stranded in Gujarat started its journey from the Kalupur railway station in Ahmedabad towards the Union Territory at 5 pm on Tuesday. According to an update from the nodal officer of the Jammu and Kashmir government for COVID-19, the train services from Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Rajasthan are at an advanced stage, while for the states in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country, the services are in process.

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