A glimmer of hope has appeared for the more than 200 patients from Dhanbad and adjoining areas who had gone to Vellore in Tamil Nadu for treatment before the lockdown and are stranded, mostly at private lodges, along with their family members.

Jharkhand chief secretary Sukhdev Singh, taking note of the difficulties being faced by these patients and their family members, on Monday wrote a letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart, K. Shanmugam, appealing to run a special train from Katpadi (Vellore) to Ranchi as per the Union home ministry order of April 29 allowing interstate movement of stranded workers, pilgrims, tourists and other persons.

“We reached Vellore on March 17 and treatment of both my sister and mother for dermatological problems was carried out from March 18 to 26. Since then we are stranded in a private lodge facing all kinds of difficulties,” Chotu Chauhan, a resident of Tetulmari in Dhanbad, told The Telegraph over phone on Tuesday.

Chauhan, 27, had gone for the treatment of his mother Kunti Devi, 47, and younger sister Priyanka Kumari, 20.

“The local administration in Vellore has made arrangements for food for all the stranded patients and their family members and attendants, but due to poor implementation of the order the facility has not reached all the lodges,” Chauhan said.

He said that on Monday some patients and relatives came out on the road after which police had to shoo away the crowd.

“Though the lodge owners have been asked by the administration to take only 50 per cent of the daily room charges but the lodge owners are compelling us to pay full charges as they claim that they are not being provided any rebate by the government in electricity charges or municipal taxes for the lockdown period,” said Chouhan.

He appealed to the state government to make arrangements to bring back them as soon as possible.

Similarly, Md Rakib Ansari, 25, a resident of Katras, said: “I along with my mother, father and aunt arrived in Vellore on March 18 for the treatment of my younger sister who is years suffering from cardiac problems. She has been advised further surgical treatment two months later, but we can’t come back due to the lockdown and cancellation of trains. My father, Siraj Khan, who is a private taxi driver, is the sole breadwinner of the family and we have lost our entire money in food and lodging expenses. We are facing great difficulty and we expect the Jharkhand government to help us return home.”