AURANGABAD/ LUCKNOW: A goods train ran over a group of migrant workers who fell asleep on the rail tracks on Friday killing 16 of them in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, in a tragedy that highlighted the plight of thousands of labourers hit by coronavirus lockdown walking long distances back to their native states.
Aurangabad district police chief Mokshada Patil told PTI that three of the four survivors from the group of 20 men returning to their home state of Madhya Pradesh tried in vain to wake up their colleagues who had slept on the track after a overnight walk from Jalna, around 40 kms from the site of the accident. The Railways announced a comprehensive probe into the accident which occurred at 5.15 am near Karmad, around 30 km from Aurangabad city.
As reports of anxious migrant workers demanding transport facility to return to their home state came from several parts of the country, several states pressed for deployment of more ‘Shramik Special’ trains to ferry lakhs of labourers.
A video clip from the accident scene in Karmad that has gone viral showed the bodies of workers lying on the tracks and nearby with their meagre personal belongings scattered around. The victims, aged between 20 and 35 years, hailed from Umaria and Shahdol districts of MP and were working in a steel factory in Jalna, police said.
In a statement, the South Central Railway said the train driver had seen the sleeping men and had even tried to alert them by honking but failed to save their lives. The migrant workers, rendered jobless due to the lockdown and desperate to go to their native places, left Jalna on Thursday night and were walking along the rail tracks apparently to escape the attention of police. The workers, who were headed to Bhusawal in MP, came till Karmad and fell asleep on the rail tracks due to exhaustion when they were run over by the goods train, an official at the Karmad police station said.
Three of the four survivors were sleeping some distance away from the rail tracks, he said. “I had a word with the survivors. They started walking from Jalna on Thursday night and tried to reach Bhusaval,” Mokshada Patil told PTI.
“Out of the 20 people, 16 died, one is injured and three are with us. A case will be registered at the Karmad police station,” she said.
Jalna SP S Chaitanya said the migrant labourers had left without informing their employer or the local administration.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments announced financial aid of Rs 10 lakh — Rs 5 lakh each — to families of the deceased.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed anguish over the death of migrant workers in the train accident. He said all possible assistance is being provided.
Due to the lack of congestion on their routes, the average speed of freight trains has increased by 66 per cent during the lockdown. Despite the railways running migrant special trains since May 1 and ferrying almost three lakh migrants since then in more than 251 trains, many of them have started their journey home on foot or bicycle, as they apparently could not wait for their turn any longer due to lack of food and employment.
Terming the incident as “painful”, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar urged the labourers to have patience and not undertake risky journeys to their home states.
The accident sparked attacks against the Centre from the Congress which alleged the policy of providing buses and trains to transport migrant workers was poorly designed, coordinated and implemented. “After announcements of buses and trains, why are thousands still forced to walk back to their villages?” asked senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
BSP supremo Mayawati said the death of the migrant labourers was a result of the “insensitive attitude” of the Centre and the Maharashtra government and demanded better arrangements for workers returning home. (PTI)
