Chaos after 2 Shramik Special trains cancelled in Mumbai

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, May 21

More than three thousand migrant workers were left in the lurch after two Shramik Special trains scheduled to depart from Borivali in suburban Mumbai to Uttar Pradesh this afternoon were cancelled at the last minute.

The migrant workers who had confirmed reservations for the two trains gathered at the municipal grounds at Mahavir Nagar in Kandivali from where they were to be ferried to Borivali railway station by government buses.

“We had called all the passengers who were registered to board the trains to Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh at 9 am. However, we were told in the afternoon that the trains were cancelled,” Senior Police Inspector Nitin Pandkule of the Kandivali police station said.

According to the officer, the passengers registered for the UP-bound trains were quickly followed by those who were to board a train to Purnia in Bihar.

“We had to segregate the passengers who were to board the trains for Bihar and send them to Borivali by buses,” Pandkule said.

He added the UP-bound passengers were pacified by the police.

“The passengers were angry when they heard the trains were cancelled. But we pacified them and said alternative arrangements would be made,” the inspector said.

He added that the police arranged for food and water for the stranded passengers who were then asked to disperse.

Photographs and video footage uploaded by local residents on social media showed complete chaos at the Mahavir Nagar municipal grounds where norms of social distancing were disregarded.

It is not clear why the trains were cancelled. Western Railway officials said the two trains to UP were cancelled due to operational reasons.

According to district officials here, passengers scheduled to board the Shramik Special trains are asked to assemble at various spots several hours in advance where they are checked for fever before being ferried to railway stations.