Bihar: Migrants start reaching relief camps, CM steps up efforts to rescue stranded workers

PATNA: Bihar government on Sunday put up check posts, deployed officers and medical teams across major entry points along Bihar-UP border after Uttar Pradesh government’s special buses carrying migrant workers start to arrive in the morning.


Around 8,000 to 10,000 migrant workers reached at different ‘disaster border relief camps’ in Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran, Kaimur and Buxar districts by end of the day. Majority of them reached through Beltharia check-post in Gopalganj and Karmanasa check-post in Kaimur, a home department official told TOI on Sunday.

As per the CM Nitish Kumar’s instructions, DMs of all bordering districts this morning opened a series of ‘disaster border relief camps’ at different schools and colleges in their respective jurisdiction to provide food, accommodation and medical assistance to the arriving migrant workers. The arriving workers were properly screened by medical teams before they were allowed to stay in the camps. They will be kept under observation at the camps for next 14 days, the official said.

After taking stock of the situation about arrival of migrant workers from the state’s top officers here on Sunday, Nitish Kumar asked the Bihar’s Delhi-based resident commissioner to do comprehensive monitoring of the works being done to provide relief to migrant workers, currently stranded in different states. The chief minister also asked for appointing separate nodal officer for each state.

Nitish further asked the state’s chief secretary Deepak Kumar and disaster management department principal secretary

Pratyaya Amrit

to take quick action on the information about stranded workers received from other states.

In Gopalganj district, the administration has set up nine relief camps where nearly 2,000 migrant workers are staying after their initial medical screening.

Vivek Kumar

, a transport department official posted at Beltharia check-post in Gopalganj, told reporters that eight buses from UP reached near the inter-state border by Sunday morning. Some more buses reached by the evening, he said.

Earlier in the day, state’s chief secretary Deepak Kumar spoke to all DMs of the bordering districts especially those touching borders of UP, Nepal and

West Bengal

, and asked them to take all necessary steps to provide food, accommodation and medical assistance to all people put up at the relief camps. He asked the DMs to increased number of relief camps in proportionate to the arrival of migrant workers in their district.

DGP

Gupteshwar Pandey

separately spoke to the SPs of bordering districts and asked the police officials to maintain law and order in and around the relief camps.