Over 2,500 migrant labourers reach UP from Gujarat on special trains

Over 2,500 migrant labourers reached Uttar Pradesh's Ballia and Lucknow districts on two special trains from different parts of Gujarat on Wednesday, over a month after a coronavirus-induced lockdown left them stranded away from their homes.

While 1,250 labourers arrived in Ballia on a train from Rajkot, another 1,262 reached Lucknow on a train from Anand, officials said.

Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses were arranged to take the labourers home from railway stations, they said.

Ballia District Magistrate Pratap Shahi said, "A special train carrying 1,250 migrant labourers from Rajkot in Gujarat arrived at Ballia railway station on Wednesday morning. Of the 1,250 migrant labourers, around 650 are from Ballia, while rest of them are from Mau, Deoria, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Fatehpur and Kanpur."