Telangana CM urges PM Modi not to resume train services as COVID cases in state reach 1275

Telangana government on Monday disfavoured resumption of passenger train services at this juncture, saying it would lead to movement of people and pose problems in testing them for COVID-19 and quarantining as the state saw a spike in fresh cases taking the tally to 1,275.

The day also saw more than 280 Indian nationals stranded in the USA and UAE arriving by Air India flights at the international airport here as part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate such people from foreign countries. As many as 79 people tested positive for the virus on Monday while 50 were discharged as the active cases stood at 444, a COVID-19 bulletin said. Though the number of cases showed a decline since early this month, it's been on the rise during the last few days and all the 79 fresh cases were from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the hotbed of the virus spread in the state.

READ |  PM Modi requests CMs to submit state-specific COVID-19 lockdown strategy by May 15

PM-CM meet

Participating in the video conference held by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi to discuss coronavirus containment and  lockdown exit plans, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao urged him not to resume the passenger train services and said the impact of COVID-19 has been more in major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Rao asked Modi "not to revive the passenger train services, which were stopped as part of preventive measures to contain spread of coronavirus in the country," an official release said.

As many as 15 trains are to be operated by the Railways from Tuesday on the Rajdhani route from Delhi to all the major cities, including Secunderabad here, in the country. Rao told Modi that resumption of passenger train services at this juncture would lead to movement of people from one destination to another.

READ |  3 trains to depart from New Delhi station as railways resumes passenger services

Nobody knows who is going from where to where. It is not possible to conduct tests on everyone. It is also difficult to put all those who travelled by trains under quarantine. Hence, passengers trains should not be allowed to ply, he said. The chief minister also strongly favoured state governments allowing migrant workers to return to their native places, besides rescheduling the loans of states and raising Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) limits.Observing that no revenue is being earned in view of the virus spread and consequent lockdown, he said no state was in a position to repay loans.

Rao stressed that lockdown regulations be strictly implemented in containment zones and there be no laxity. Separately, he instructed officials to plan a strategy on the road ahead with COVID-19 remaining in existence, another release said. The plan should take into account various aspects, including resumption of economic activity, implementation of relaxations in zones (such as green and orange) and activities which should not be allowed, it said.

READ | Now, around 1,700 passengers & 3 stoppages for 'Shramik Special' trains for migrants

As part of the Vande Bharat mission, Air India flight AI 1617 carrying 118 people from San Francisco in US via Mumbai landed at the GMR-led Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here in the morning. Flight AI 1920 from Abu Dhabi landed at 8.50 pm with 170 passengers, airport sources said.

To facilitate the arriving passengers and aircraft crew, the airport has kept the international arrivals and the entire stretch right from aerobridge to arrivals ramp fully sanitised and fumigated. The airport also enforced the social distancing among passengers right from the aerobridge to across the terminal, the sources added.

READ | Cop performs 'Singham' stunt in MP, fined Rs 5000; watch