West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the Railway Ministry to not send Shramik Special trains to the state till May 26 in sight of Cyclone Amphan.
The letter from West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha to Chairman of Railway board V K Yadav dated May 22, stated that the state has been severely impacted by Super Cyclone Amphan on May 20-21 which caused extensive damage to the infrastructure.
“As the district administrations are involved in relief and rehabilitation works, it’ll not be possible to receive special trains for subsequent few days. It’s therefore requested that no train should be sent to West Bengal till May 26,” she said.
At least 86 people in West Bengal has died due to Cyclone Amphan. With normal life thrown out of drugs by the region’s worst weather disaster, the authorities are scrambling to revive normalcy.
West Bengal has received the smallest amount number of Shramik Special trains since such service began to ferry migrant labourers back home amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
In fact, Home Minister Amit Shah during a letter had alleged that Bengal wasn’t allowing its migrants to return. Later, it had been decided that the consent of the destination state wasn’t required to work these trains.
So far, over 2,000 Shramik Special trains are operated since May Day ferrying over 31 lakh migrant.
