Kerala bid farewell to 1200 migrant labourers on Friday as a special non-stop train from Aluva to Bhubaneswar in Odisha ferried these workers back home, over one month after the nationwide lockdown left them stranded in the state. 

Pictures from the Aluva railway station in Ernakulam on Saturday show that the commuters were sent off by the Kerala government with food kits, drinking water and sanitisers to use during their journey. 

The special train with no stops in between left the platform at the Aluva station at 6 pm on Friday. This is the second train to shift migrant workers back home. On Friday morning, a special train from left Telangana to Jharkhand with the same number of commuters.

All the passengers were also screened for fever by the health department and the police and only those who cleared the screening were allowed to travel. The passengers were transported from the migrant labourers relief camps in Kochi to the railway station in corporation buses, as per the state protocol. 

The government also conformed with all social distancing guidelines while allowing workers to travel back home. According to reports, the 24-coach train carried 54 people in one compartment as opposed to its maximum capacity of 72 persons.The train will only make stops for refuelling of food, supplies and change of crew. 

Perumbavoor, near Aluva, has one of the highest number of labour camps in the state and Aluva is one of the stations which see large numbers migrant workers who wish to travel.

The state has a migrant population of 3.6 lakh people who are housed in about 20,862 camps. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday morning a group of 100 migrant labourers in Malappuram took a protest march, raising demands to return home. Prior to this, hundreds of migrant workers in Changanssery’s Paippad had gathered, demanding that they be allowed to return to their hometowns.

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Rajesh Abraham

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Pishu Mon

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Pishu Mon

Picture courtesy: Twitter/Rajesh Abraham