Bengal will not allow Shramik Specials till May 26

KOLKATA: The Bengal government will not receive Shramik Specials till May 26, CM Mamata Banerjee announced at state secretariat Nabanna on Saturday. With Amphan leaving a trail of severe devastation across eight districts, the state would “need these days for relief work to take people back home from railway stations”, the CM said.
“We are not allowing Shramik Specials to the state till May 26.We require these two days to clear trees from village roads before we take them back home from railway stations. We will be taking trains from May 27,” she said, adding that the government won’t shift migrant workers coming from other states and those coming by flight to quarantine centres.
The government, instead, wants them to give an undertaking that they will stay in home quarantine for 14 days.
“I am hearing that domestic flights will be on from May 25. Those coming from other states may stay at home because that is the best quarantine centre. The government is not setting up quarantine centres for them because we don’t have the infrastructure following the devastations all around. Even school buildings are not safe. They have developed cracks. From now, home is your quarantine centre,” the CM said.
“Home quarantine is the best. We will ask you to give an undertaking stating that you will stay at home for the prescribed period. The state health department will keep a watch on them by tracking cell phone towers to ensure that they don’t step out of their homes,” she added.
The CM said Bengal migrants coming from other states won’t have to wait for hours for health screening before they can go home. “It takes at least five to 10 minutes to take swab samples. The process takes hours if thousands of migrants come at a time. People run out of patience. We have decided to let them go home after checking their body temperatures with thermal guns. Districts will do their health screening after they reach home,” she said.
The CM lauded the model adopted in some villages to keep people in quarantine. “In some villages, locals have identified a place for these people. They stay there while their families carry home-cooked food to them. Nothing can be better than this. Don’t mix with people, eat home-cooked food,” the CM added.