Special Shramik train brings 1,500 migrants from Junagad

NASHIK: As many as 1 ,500 migrant workers returned from Junagad in Gujarat to Nandurbar by a special Shramik train on Thursday. Of these, 10 workers were from Shirpur and Dhule and the remaining migrants residents of Nandurbar district.

Officials from the district administration said that due to lack of irrigation facilities in the hilly areas, many people travelled from Nandurbar to Junagad in search of job opportunities after Diwali and returned home before monsoon to prepare their farms for the kharif season.

This time, however, they got stuck in Gujarat due to the lockdown.

“District guardian minister K C Padvi was flooded with requests to arrange for the transportation of the workers. He got in touch with the administration and arranged for a Shramik train ,,” said the officials.

The workers were asked to observe social distancing norms once they deboarded the train. 51 buses were pressed into service to take the workers home after they were screened and given ‘home-quarantine’ stamps.

“All the workers will be in home-quarantine for 14 days. The local teams at the village-level will keep a watch on them. Their medical check-up will be carried out from time to time,” said an official.

The tribal development department bore the total expenditure of Rs 6.37 lakh for arranging the trasnportation of the workers.

Pregnant woman returning from Pune delivers baby girl

A pregnant woman, a resident of Nandurbar who was returning from Pune by a bus arranged by the tribal development department, went in labour during the journey. She was rushed to a hospital in Manmad town of Nandgaon district where she delivered a baby girl. On the directions of district guardian minister K C Padvi, the mother and child were taken home by the tribal development department.