Political parties in race to welcome third wave in Mumbai

Sena minister Anil Parab launches a festival special bus

Even as the state government talks of a likely third wave of Covid-19 and the Opposition acknowledges the looming threat, the Shiv Sena and BJP are locked in an intense race to win public brownie points. Both parties have been flagging off trains and buses under the pretext of festivals. The number of special transport services this year is almost twice that of last year.

Soon after he took charge as the minister of state in the rail ministry in July, BJP's Raosaheb Danve Patil first announced more special trains for the Ganpati festival in addition to the 72 services that had been already announced. In August, further announcements came in and the number swelled to 261. Authorities added 10 more services late on Thursday night, taking the total to 271. These Ganpati specials will be run by Central Railway, Western Railway. They will run till September 20.

Raosaheb Danve Patil flags off a special train in the city

If these were not enough, BJP minister Narayan Rane went a step ahead and booked an entire 18-car train trip from Dadar to Sawantwadi - named Modi Express - and allowed about 1,800 passengers to hop onto it free of cost. Danve flew down from Delhi to flag it off. Last year for Ganpati festival, the railways had arranged 182 trains - 162 on CR and 20 on WR.

Also Read: Maha: Political parties should set example, avoid gatherings, says CM Thackeray

Not wanting to be left behind, Sena's minister of transport and chairman of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation Anil Parab has announced over 2,200 buses in addition to the thousands of regular ones already scheduled. On Wednesday, Parab flagged off about 110 buses from Parel bus depot to Konkan. These thousands of buses and trains will return with all the crowds back to Mumbai by mid-September something health experts fear could set off the third wave by end of this month.

‘Coronavirus does not recognise politics'

Experts slammed politicians for such decisions and called for restraint. "Viruses do not recognise political compulsions. Political leaders, in fact, should take the lead in making people understand that such activities could lead to the propagation of Covid and will be an invitation to the third wave. The latest Delta variant is highly contagious and may affect people below 18 years of age who are lucky to have escaped the first and second wave," said Ajit V Shenoy, a senior transport expert with Mumbai Mobility Forum and Mumbai Vikas Samiti.

Passengers pose for selfies next to the Modi Express to Konkan, at Dadar on Tuesday. Pic/Sameer Markande

"We run the risk, especially with the new variant. We are providing a fertile ground for its spread by such rampant addition of buses and trains. In any case, to increase frequency, we do not need to increase the number of buses, but we need bus lanes for public transport," senior transport expert and chairman of Mumbai Environmental Social Network Ashok Datar said.

Jitendra Gupta of Mumbai Transport Forum called the so-called initiatives "risky decisions". "Firstly, they are least bothered if the numbers rise due to such easy public movement. And then when cases increase, they will put fresh restrictions hampering the economy and people's livelihood. We need to draw a clear line on what is more important. We all know that no one follows the protocols detailed in the guidelines and all these transport modes are crowded as it is physically and practically impossible to have social distance during such journeys," he said.

‘Checks will be conducted'

Konkan Railway officials said that they will be careful and mandating all tests for commuters. "Utmost care is being taken at railway stations to ensure the Covid-19 protocols are being followed. The temperature of passengers is being checked at the entry and exit of stations," said a spokesperson.

"Intensive ticket checking will be carried out at stations and in trains to curb unauthorised passengers. For additional security, extra railway security personnel are being deployed along with RPF at major stations. Further, RPF has been sensitised to respond quickly to messages received through Twitter and Rail Madad Helpline No 139," he added.

Free for all? 2020 vs 2021

2020: For MSRTC reservations, a negative RT-PCR report was a must
2021: No such rule, tickets readily available

2020: An e-pass was mandatory for entry into a new district by road
2021: No such rule has been enforced this year

2020: State govt had tightly regulated train movement till the beginning of festival
2021: No such restrictions this time, more crowds for launch of trains

2020: Compulsory negative test reports and quarantine in Konkan districts on arrival
2021: Compulsory RT-PCR negative test report, except for fully vaccinated and under-18

271
No. of festival specials organised this time