Stop all long-distance trains: Bengal govt writes to railways

The West Bengal government wrote to the Indian Railways on Saturday, urging it to stop all long-distance train services to the state in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, sources said.

Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha wrote to Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav on the matter, they said.

The move is aimed at keeping a check on the flow of people from other states as the Mamata Banerjee government tries to control the spread of the deadly virus, they said.

Sinha's letter came hours after the chief minister alleged that the railways was not ensuring proper screening of the passengers entering the state through long-distance trains.

She also claimed that migrant workers from the state, particularly those in Maharashtra, were being packed off in trains and sent back without medical checkups.

Meanwhile, the government started a 24X7 emergency helpdesk at the state secretariat with numbers 1070 and 033- 22143526 in regard to the pandemic.