Twenty two have been born in the state due to continuous rains and floods in Bihar. Rivers like Kosi, Kamla, Budhi Gandak, Lal Bakaya are flowing above the danger mark. At the same time 48 gates out of 56 of Kosi barrage have been opened due to continuous rains. According to the Meteorological Department, the weather is expected to worsen in the next few days.

While the country is fighting the corona, states like Bihar and Assam are also facing the challenges of flood and rain besides the corona. The continuous rains for the last several days have brought Bihar into disrepair. The main thoroughfares and streets of many districts like Muzaffarpur and Madhubna are flooded. In addition, many villages have been completely submerged.

According to media reports, Gopalganj – Saran dam broke down due to water pressure on Friday. Due to the dam breaking, the water of the dam has been bribed in many villages, due to which people are going to high places with their cattle.

Train services between Darbhanga and Samastipur have also been stopped due to floods. This information was given by the Chief Public Relations Officer of East Central Railway. According to the information, the rail operation has been stopped for some time due to the flooding of Bagmati river between Hayaghat Thalwara.

In the midst of all this, the politics on flood, rain and corona is also continuing. The opposition is constantly trying to surround the government. Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has gone on a tour of flood-hit districts in the state. In the same sequence, Tejashwi visited the flood-hit areas of Madhubani. Meanwhile, two thousand rupees were distributed among the people by boat in Bhakua and Bhargava villages of Madhepur block, while targeting the opposition, saying that the situation in Bihar is very bad due to floods, and the government is doing nothing for the people.

On Tejashwi Yadav’s visit to Muzaffarpur and Madhubna, JDU leader and spokesperson Ranjan Prasad said that Tejashwi did not go to meet the flood victims but went for a picnic with his convoy.

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Adopting a cautious approach, the Union government in its ‘Unlock Phase 2’ has decided to keep schools, colleges, educational institutions, cinemas, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places, and even metro services shut until July 31. Similarly, social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other large congregations will continue to be disallowed. Dates for opening of these will be decided separately, based on the assessment of the situation, said the MHA.

Lockdown shall continue to be implemented strictly in the containment zones till July 31. These zones are required to be carefully demarcated by the state, UT governments with a view to contain the spread of COVID-19, after taking into consideration the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, it said, adding that within the containment zones, strict perimeter control shall be maintained and only essential activities allowed.

Domestic and international flights and passenger trains, already operational in a limited manner, will be further expanded in a calibrated manner, it said.

Citing the rising numbers of coronavirus cases, the MHA said these activities will be allowed later. “The date for opening up these services will be decided separately and necessary SOPs shall be issued,” said the guidelines.

An attempt has been made, however, to make it easier for economic units like industries and shops. Night curfew timings have also been relaxed and will now be imposed only from 10 pm to 5 am. This is expected to allow the shift system in manufacturing units.

Restrictions on customers in shops have also been relaxed. Now more than five people can be present in a shop as long as they follow social distancing norms. However, state governments will still have the freedom to impose further restrictions as they deem fit in the interest of public health, the statement said.

Vulnerable people like those above 65 years of age, people with co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, are advised to stay indoors, except for meeting essential requirements and for health purposes.

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The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued notice to Chief Secretaries of Gujarat and Bihar, Chairman, Railway Board and Union Home Secretary calling for a detailed report over the hardships being faced by migrant workers due to misdirected special trains.

Seeking response within four weeks, the NHRC asked the Chief Secretaries of the Government of Gujarat and Bihar to specifically inform as to what steps were taken to ensure basic facilities including medical facilities for the migrant labourers who boarded the trains.

The NHRC took suo motu cognizance of media reports that the trains which are ferrying the migrant labourers are not only starting late but are taking many additional days to reach the destination.

The Commission has observed that the contents of the media reports, if true, amount to gross violations of human rights.

 “The Rail network in India is the largest in the world and well equipped with modern technology, trained staff and other infrastructure. A train getting late due to bad weather etc. for some hours is always considered beyond the control of the authorities but trains getting lost during a journey, reaching unexpected destinations and taking more than a week to reach its scheduled station is hard to believe and require a thorough investigation into the matter,” the Commission observed.

“In one of the reports, it is alleged that many migrant labourers lost life during their journey by train due to longer duration and no arrangements for drinking water and food etc,” it added.

Reportedly, two persons died in Muzaffarpur and one each in Danapur, Sasaram, Gaya, Begusarai and Jehanabad in Bihar including a 4-year-old boy. All of them have reportedly died due to hunger. In another incident, a train reportedly started from Surat district in Gujarat for Siwan in Bihar on 16.05.2020 and reached Bihar on 25.05.2020 i.e. after 9 days.

The NHRC also observed though train services have been started but the sufferings of the poor labourers are not seemingly coming to an end.

“There have been several media reports stating that in many cases, the labourers are being called to board the train. They are brought to the railway stations in buses without maintaining social distancing. They are put to wait for hours without any arrangements of drinking water, food, shaded shelter and toilets for them. The female labourers, old aged persons, ill persons, small children and specially-abled persons are reportedly suffering a lot. Many times the poor labourers have been told to go back as the trains got cancelled,” the Commission stated.

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West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday requested the ministry of railways to not send any Shramik Special trains to the state till May 26 as officials are busy in relief work after the havoc wreaked by Cyclone Amphan. The letter from state chief secretary Rajiva Sinha to Chairman of Railway board V K Yadav on May 22 stated that the state has been severely impacted by Super Cyclone Amphan which caused extensive damage to the infrastructure. West Bengal has received the least number of Shramik Special trains since such service began to ferry migrant labourers back home amid the coronavirus-forced lockdown.

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New Delhi, May 22: More than 13 lakh passengers have booked rail tickets since Thursday, after the Railways opened online booking following its decision to ply 200 trains from June 1st 2020. These will be fully reserved trains having both AC, non-AC classes and general coaches shall also have reserved seats for sitting, said the Railways after releasing a list of trains to be in operation from June 1.

The train services were suspended when the first lockdown was announced on March 24 to contain the spread of coronavirus. It’s probably for the first time in history that entire passenger train services were suspended.  As part of the graded resumption of service, the Indian Railway first started operations of 15 Special Rajdhani trains connecting major cities with New Delhi. The railways announced these trains schedule till May 20.

The COVID 19 pandemic continues to haunt India. As of today, the total number of COVID 19 cases have crossed the 1,10,000-mark and the virus has claimed 3,583 lives. The pandemic has not only affected normal lives of Indians but also hit country’s economy very badly. In the absence of a cure, India also followed the worldwide phenomenon of locking the entire population.

The lockdown series to contain the virus was started on March 24 this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 21-day nationwide lockdown when the number of confirmed positive coronavirus cases in India was approximately 500.

On 14 April, Prime minister Narendra Modi again on April 14 extended the nationwide lockdown until 3 May, with a conditional relaxation after 20 April for the regions where the spread had been contained. India was placed under third lockdown on May 1 for another two weeks until May 17. Currently, the country is going through the fourth lockdown that will be in place till May 31.

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As migrants are returning to home states, demand for trains on specific routes have increased. Bihar has asked for 54 additional trains daily but in nine district-wise routes. The nine routes have three halts, each in a district, carrying passengers from four far-flung districts.

Most of the Shramik Specials in Bihar are bringing passengers to central points like Danapur near Patna, from where 30 buses take passengers of each train to their districts.

In a letter to Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Bihar Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar has said that to receive additional trains, the state requires those trains to carry passengers directly to the home districts of migrant passengers and halt at the stations in those districts.

“If this is not followed and trains bring passengers from different districts, then it will create huge difficulty for the administration,” Kumar said in his letter.

Bihar so far has received 367 Shramik Specials and consent has already been given for 575 additional trains from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi wrote to Railways earlier this week seeking trains for transporting migrants on nine routes. It has so far received around 900 of the 1,800 Shramik Specials that began operation since May 1.

Uttar Pradesh, which has received — and is expected to receive — the most number of Shramik Special trains, has written to the Railways requesting Mainline Electric Multiple Units (MEMU) trains on nine main routes in the state to replace buses to ferry migrant workers to various districts. The routes suggested connecting places like Ghaziabad, Barabanki, Tundla, Kanpur, Varanasi, Shjahanpur, etc.

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A list of 200 trains has been released. These trains are to start from 1st of June. These include trains like Duronto, Sampark Kranti, Jan Shatabdi and Purva Express. These trains will have AC and non AC coaches. To sit in General Coach Reservation will also have to be taken. No passenger in the train will be able to travel without a confirmed ticket. Online booking for seats in trains can be done through IRCTC website and mobile app. Passenger would like to be able to book tickets 30 days in advance .. RAC and waiting list rules will be as before.

According to the railway officials, the fare of trains running from June 1 will be normal. But for booking a seat in a general coach, the fare of the sleeper will also have to be paid. The railway has said that all passengers will get seats i.e. there will be no waiting. No unreserved or tatkal ticket will be issued.

Due to Corona lockdown, across the country, 12 thousand passenger trains were closed on Janata curfew i.e. 22 March. Apart from this, the railways canceled all the tickets booked till June 30.

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Migrants can now heave a sigh of relief. After bringing back migrants to Jharkhand from Telangana the Indian Railways now plans to run many such trains.

Six special trains had been scheduled to run on Friday as per the demands received from various state governments. The scheduled trains on Friday are Lingampally, Telangana to Hatia, Jharkhand; Aluva, Kerala to Bhubaneswar, Odisha; Nasik, Maharashtra to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh; Nasik to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and Kota to Hatia. Students from all 24 districts of Jharkhand who are in Rajasthan were to be accommodated in two special trains leaving Kota and Jaipur around 9 pm on Friday.

However, the Indian Railways has decided to charge for tickets for operating special trains for stranded migrant workers. The fare includes the price of regular sleeper class tickets plus superfast charges of Rs 30 and an additional charge of Rs 20.

The Centre has been under pressure from states for operating special trains to rescue stranded migrants and students. States including Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Kerala had asked the Centre to run special trains.

The ministry will designate nodal officers to coordinate with states and Union territories. Railways ministry released detailed guidelines on social-distancing norms to be followed at stations and inside the trains. The guidelines on the sale of tickets are expected soon.

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