Migrant on way to station to catch train collapses, dies  

A 45-year-old migrant worker from Rajasthan, who walked 30km from his residence to catch a Shramik Special train, collapsed and died near the Vasai Road railway station, an official said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday evening and the deceased was identified as Harish Chander Shankarlal, a resident of Bhayander in adjoining Thane district, he said.

He had walked nearly 30km from his local residence to catch a Shramik Special train at the Vasai Road station in the district to travel to his hometown in Rajasthan, the official said.

Shankarlal, a carpenter by profession, was working at a construction site and was without a job due to the lockdown, he said.

He and some of his distant relatives had applied for nod to travel to their hometowns in Shramik Special trains, being operated by the Railways to ferry migrant workers stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the official said.

On Wednesday, they got information that a special train will be leaving for Rajasthan on Thursday evening, he said.

Shankarlal ran and walked on Thursday afternoon on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in sweltering heat to reach the station as he was left with no money to hire an autorickshaw or any other private vehicle, he said.

The migrant labourer felt uneasy and collapsed near the station out of exhaustion, the official said, adding he also vomitted.

The Manikpur police took him to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead before admission, he said.

His train was scheduled to leave at 6.30 pm.

An accidental death case has been registered at the Manikpur police station and a probe was underway, the official added.

His body has been sent for a post-mortem to the government hospital, another official said.

migrant workers staying in Bhayander said authorities had not made any arrangements to ferry them to the railway station.

When contracted, Vasai tehsildar Kiran Survase said they had arranged for travel to the station only for migrant workers living in Vasai.

Bhayander did not come in their jurisdiction, he said.

Survase said on Thursday two trains left from Vasai Road, one for Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh) and another for Sikar (Rajasthan) with a total of 3,045 passengers.