Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Passengers caught unawares

By A.V.Ragunathan

SALEM Oct. 9. The dawn-to-dusk general strike called for by all the political parties, including the ruling AIADMK, in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday seeking release of the Cauvery water caused great hardship to the inter-State rail passengers.

As the trains were halted en route at the start of the bandh at 6 a.m., the passengers had to spend 12 hours at one point. They had problem using the toilets too.

Passengers travelling by trains with the pantry car service suffered less. The sick had a harrowing time, not getting medicines on time, nor was any medical personnel on hand.

About 900 passengers travelling by the Sabari Express, connecting Hyderabad to Ernakulam, were stranded at the Salem Junction. Many passengers were caught unawares as they had the least idea of the general strike, nor did they anticipate that the train would be detained so long at one place. One of the passengers, Raju Parameswar Iyer from Hyderabad, told this correspondent that breaking journey created lot of problems for the passengers. Besides, their entire schedule was upset.

Had the Railways cancelled the trains at the starting point itself, the passengers would have been saved the troubles.

Sharat Babu, managing director of a private firm in Hyderabad, travelling with his family, said the airconditioner went off soon after the train pulled in at the junction at 6 a.m., and it was partly restored only by 11 a.m.

He, however, broke the journey and with the help of his friend, got a car to go to Coimbatore for attending official duty. Rajendra Kumar, who was travelling in an AC compartment, along with his family, said the Railways failed to alert the passengers in advance about the general strike, or possible dislocation of services.

He was contemplating suing the Railways for the lapses. The family had to hire a room for refreshing itself and this meant additional expenditure.

Another passenger, suffering from hypertension, went out of the station to buy medicines. He said that during such exigencies, the Railways should make proper provisions for passengers.

The station manager, K.Sridharan, said the catering requirements and water supply were taken care of.

An electric line was drawn from the platform to power airconditioned compartments. When his attention was drawn to the plight of ailing passengers, he said the services of a railway doctor would be requisitioned.

Mr. Sridharan said the West Coast, Intercity (both up and down) and Kovai Expresses were cancelled and passengers would be refunded fully.

The Bokoro Express, the Kurla Express, the Gorakhpur Express, the Hyderabad Express and the Bombay Jayanthi Janata Express were rescheduled.

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