Mumbai: Migrants throng Bandra station to board Bihar-bound special train
What's the story
Thousands of migrant laborers in Mumbai gathered at Bandra Terminus on Tuesday before the departure of a Shramik Special train, hoping to board the Bihar-bound train, which led to chaos at the railway station. However, only those workers who had registered themselves were allowed to board the train. The police dispersed the crowd and sent them back. Here are more details.
Details
Migrants got messages about Bihar-bound special train leaving from Bandra
The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday morning; the migrant workers started arriving at Bandra Terminus at around 9:00 am. The laborers received messages about a Shramik Special train leaving for Bihar from Bandra, following which they began walking to the railway station along with their luggage in an attempt to board the train, said reports.
Information
Only 1,000 allowed to board the train
According to reports, around 4,000-5,000 migrant laborers had gathered at the Bandra railway station. However, officials allowed only 1,000 workers who had previously registered themselves to board the Shramik Special train bound for Bihar, and the rest were cleared by the police.
Twitter Post
Huge crowd of migrant workers gathered at the station
Maharashtra: Huge crowd of migrant workers gathered outside the Bandra railway station in Mumbai earlier today to board a "Shramik special' train to Bihar. Only people who had registered themselves(about 1000) were allowed to board, rest were later dispersed by police. pic.twitter.com/WDsZawtBH5
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2020
Statement
Unregistered migrants also reached Bandra station: Western Railway
A video clip of the Tuesday incident showed thousands of migrant workers carrying their luggage and walking toward the Bandra station. In a statement, the Western Railway said that a Shramik Special train was scheduled from Bandra Terminus to Bihar's Purnia. It added that only registered passengers were allowed, but many others who weren't registered or called by authorities also gathered near the station.
Twitter Post
Here's a video clip of the Bandra incident
#WATCH Maharashtra: Huge crowd of migrant workers gathered outside the Bandra railway station in Mumbai earlier today to board a "Shramik special' train to Bihar. Only people who had registered themselves(about 1000) were allowed to board, rest were later dispersed by police. pic.twitter.com/XgxOQmSzEb
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2020
Arrests
Four arrested for spreading rumors about migrant special trains
The police have also arrested four people who were accused of spreading rumors about special trains being run for migrant laborers who want to leave for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Meanwhile, some reports, citing sources, also claimed that migrant workers had even received phone calls from police stations to inform about special trains being arranged from Mumbai for them.
Previous incident
Earlier, workers demanded transport arrangements to native places
However, this isn't the first time Bandra Terminus has witnessed such a huge gathering of migrant workers during the coronavirus pandemic-induced nationwide lockdown. Last month, even before the Center launched Shramik Special trains, thousands of workers gathered at the Bandra station, demanding transport arrangements to return to their native places. Migrant laborers are one of the hardest hit by the lockdown in India.