Trains bring 3k to Howrah and Bankura from S India

Kolkata: More than 3,000 people — including nearly 1,200 patients and their family members, tourists and migrant workers — reached West Bengal on Tuesday.
Another train from Katpadi station, Vellore, left for Hijli station in Kharagpur on Tuesday afternoon.
The special train carrying passengers, mostly patients from Vellore and their family members, arrived at platform 22 at Howrah station’s new complex at 4.45pm.The platform looked like a fortress with police and medical team members working in tandem to get 1,182 passengers out of the compartments one by one and evacuating them through channels created for different districts. It took nearly four hours to evacuate the train.
SRP Kannan oversaw the process and was assisted by the Howrah SDO and ACP, and workers provided by CMOH’s office. A large retinue of transport department officers under WBTC managing director Rajanvir Singh’s supervision ensured district-wise departures. Before boarding buses, the passengers temperatures were checked with thermal guns.
“We created bamboo barricades for each district and evacuated the compartments one by one. This took a long time. The transport department had rolled in 60 buses from different districts,” Kannan said. RPF and GRP had the address of each passenger, who were provided food and water till they reached home.
Most passengers said they were happy with the treatment given to them en route. “We paid for neither our tickets nor food,” said Manashi Shi, who was returning with her husband after treatment.
“My foot amputation surgery was done towards end-February. I was about to return when the lockdown started. It was suffocating and distressing. The sight of Howrah station brings tears to my eyes,” said Madan Mukherjee.
The train from Bengaluru reached Bankura at 5.30am carrying 1,874 migrant workers and tourists. Bankura, Hooghly, Kolkata, Midnapore and Burdwan residents were sent home in buses after a check-up. “All passengers will be dropped off in front of their homes,” said Bankura DM Arun Prasad.