It was utter chaos at the Kengeri Railway Station where the Science Express made a halt for three days. On Saturday, thousands of schoolchildren lined up to get a glimpse of the science train. The small station was overcrowded in no time. Children were seen waiting at the station for hours on end, some even forced to go back disappointed. By afternoon, the number of students visiting the exhibition crossed 50,000, in addition to the teachers and parents. The heavy crowd at the station even spilled out onto the Mysuru-Bengaluru road.
However, the railway officials were caught off-guard. With hardly a few personnel manning the station, crowd-management was poor. Even the over-bridge, through which visitors could reach platform number 4 where the train was stationed, was overcrowded. Some students, along with their teachers, jumped down and crossed the tracks to reach the Science Express. The railway staff had a tough time alerting the visitors crossing the tracks whenever a train was approaching.
Another event at the same venue added to the mayhem. A pledge-taking ceremony for wildlife conservation by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Karnataka Forest Department certified eco-volunteers was held on platform number 1. School students were invited for this event too.
Sources said the railway department chose Kengeri station as the venue for the exhibition instead of City Railway Station to avoid congestion. However, the railway officials did not intimate the traffic police about the event and the expected crowd.
Around 30 policemen from Kengeri traffic, along with an equal number of personnel from law and order station were unable to contain the crowd, even as thousands of schoolchildren from across the city thronged the station. Adding to their woes, sources said senior police officials were not at the spot as they were attending the programme to launch "Namma 100" at the Police Commissioner's office in the city.
As the crowd began to swell, a few citizens volunteered to help the traffic police manage the crowd.
Thousands of motorists on Mysuru Road had to bear the brunt, as traffic movement was disrupted for over three kilometres on the busy road. Senior officials, sources claimed, rushed to the spot to ensure smooth vehicular movement. "It will take at least another hour for the traffic to clear," a senior official said.
