Shramik train to arrive in C'garh from Gujarat on Monday

A Shramik special train carrying 1,208 natives of Chhattisgarh, who were stranded in Gujarat due to the lockdown, will arrive in Bilaspur district of the state on Monday, officials said. This is the first Shramik special train to be reaching the state, they said.

"The first train ferrying migrant laborers, students and others from Chhattisgarh, who were struck in Gujarat amid lockdown, will arrive at Bilaspur station at around 10 am on Monday," a statement from the Public Relations Department said. Arrangements of health checkups and buses to ferry them to quarantine facilities have been made at the railway station, it said.

Bilaspur Collector Sanjay Alang on Sunday reviewed the preparations and gave necessary directives to the authorities concerned, it said. After the train reaches the station, passengers will be given hand sanitizer and mask before they disembark. A health department team will be posted at every gate of the railway station for their medical examination and screening, he said.

The laborers will be sent by buses to their villages and districts, where they will be kept in the quarantine centers. At least 60 buses have been arranged for natives of Bilaspur district.

Two ambulances will also be kept ready outside the station for emergency situation, he said. Meanwhile, the district administration has ordered to shut all shops and other commercial activities around the railway stations as a precautionary measure in view of the arrival of the migrants, it said.