Special squads, ticketing staff ensuring platforms are free of large luggage, bulky cargo in wake of stampede
Plastic drums are gathered outside Bandra Terminus amid Railways’ crackdown on bulky luggage
Western Railway (WR) on Friday seized 50 plastic drums from passengers at various stations as part of a special drive where passengers were asked to place their belongings in large bags instead.
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“At Bandra Terminus alone, 20 plastic drums were seized. We are strictly monitoring the situation. We asked passengers to empty the drums and abandon them outside the station and fill all their belongings in bags. No passenger with a plastic drum was allowed on platforms,” a senior WR official said. The WR on Wednesday prohibited plastic drums, gunny sacks, large luggage, bulky cargo, which cause congestion at stations. Special squads and ticketing staff will enforce the ban.
CCTV footage of the recent Bandra Terminus stampede showed that it was triggered when thousands headed for Diwali and Chhath Puja celebrations in their hometowns tried to board the unreserved 22-coach Bandra-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express. Several passengers were carrying large plastic drums, sacks and oversized luggage with them.
An internal note to the ticket checking staff of WR’s Mumbai division, a copy of which is with mid-day, states, “Unauthorised large plastic drums and similar large luggage are not to be permitted inside the station premises and platforms. This is to be ensured by all the ticket checking staff at the entry points of the station. All the station and squad in-charges should personally monitor that above instruction are followed scrupulously as the matter is monitored at the highest level (sic).”
WR Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said, “To meet the increasing travel demand, this year, WR is running almost 280 special trains during the festive season of Diwali/Chhath Puja to various destinations including trains to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Orissa in addition to the regular services.”
On November 1, WR ran 17 special trains, and the following day, another 17 such services will be operated for the convenience of passengers. This year, across the nation, Indian Railways is operating around 7,300 special trains during Chhath and Diwali. Last year, 4,500 such services were operated.
20
No. of drums seized from Bandra Terminus
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