15L migrants sent back; 3,459 stranded Indians arrive in state
Maharashtra government has sent around 15 lakh migrant workers to their respective states so far. Of them, 9.82 lakh workers were sent through special Shramik trains and 5.08 lakh migrants were sent by state transport (ST) buses, according to information shared by the state government.
In addition, 3,459 Indians stranded in 17 different countries have been brought back to Maharashtra in 27 flights under Vande Bharat Mission. All of them have been kept under institutional quarantine facility developed by the state government for 14 days, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday.
Of the 3,459 citizens, 1,137 are from Mumbai, 1,572 are from other parts of the state and the remaining 750 are from other states. Thackeray said more stranded Indians are being brought back under the mission as six more flights are expected to land in Mumbai till June 7.
The stranded Indians are brought from Britain, Singapore, Philippines, the United States, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Kuwait, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Oman, South Africa, Indonesia, Netherlands, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Tanzania.
Thackeray said all those who are from Mumbai have been kept in institutional quarantine facilities developed at various hotels in the city while those are from other parts of the state have been sent to the respective districts where they have been kept in quarantine facilities. “We have also kept all those, who are not from Maharashtra but have not got passes for entry from the respective states, in Mumbai at quarantine facilities,” the chief minister said.
State home minister Anil Deshmukh said over 9.82 lakh migrant workers have been sent with the help of 696 special trains which started from May 1. Of the trains, a majority of 374 departed for Uttar Pradesh, 169 trains for Bihar, 33 trains for Madhya Pradesh, 30 trains for Jharkhand, 13 trains for Orissa and six trains departed for Karnataka so far.
The state government has also sent 5,08,803 migrants to their respective states in 41,874 trips of ST buses. The destinations include Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Karnataka among other. The government has spent ₹94.66 crore on sending migrant workers through buses, stated a release issued by the chief minister’s office.
HOME MINISTER ANIL DESHMUKH SAID OVER 9.82 LAKH MIGRANTS HAVE BEEN SENT IN 696 SPECIAL TRAINS AND 5,08,803 MIGRANTS IN 41,874 TRIPS OF STATE TRANSPORT BUSES
The customs office in Mumbai saw its second death due to Covid-19 on Friday. The sepoy who died was posted in one of the docks in Zone-1 (Customs House, near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus).
In an internal communication to its employees, customs officials asked them to take all the precautions. “I urge each one of you to adhere to all precautions and guidelines. More importantly, please stay in touch with each other to ascertain each other’s well-being so that, in case needed, no time is lost in reaching out and providing assistance,” read the communication.
HT had earlier reported that six customs employees were tested positive for the virus in the third week of May. A deputy commissioner of customs, from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Nhava Sheva, tested positive for the virus on May 20.
A commissioner and an assistant commissioner with the air cargo at Sahar and also an officer deployed with the directorate general of vigilance (DGOV) department, were found to be infected in the same week.