Man stranded on local train for 18 hours

Mumbai:August 30, 2017. EXCLUSIVE PICTURE: The seven-month pregnant woman, Anandavalli, the passenger of third AC, Coach B1, 23 of Nagercoil- Mumabi CST Express stuck in the train between Arthur Road and Currey Road stations from 12.30 pm of Tuesday, August 29, 2017 to 11 am on Wednesday. The train got stranded soon after it started from Mumbai CST, as the track got drowned in the torrential rain and a Thane bound local went out of service ahead of the express train on the same track. Many people evacuated the train and braved the water-logged track and reached the nearest station. But Anandavalli couldn’t take the risk as she was in her mature state of pregnancy. There was no confirm announcement from the Indian Railways that the train has been cancelled or when it would start. The hundreds of passengers who were stuck in the train hoping that train would resumes its journey, had to face a traumatic night in their compartments without power and supply of food. The limited supply from pantry car was not sufficient for the passengers lived in the train. When I met her in the train on Wednesday morning by 10.30 am, she told that she is going to join her family at Tirunelveli for the delivery of the baby. She narrated her traumatic time at night as the AC and fans were not functioning. Panadarm Thever, the husband of Anandavalli had confirmed by 1.15 pm, that train finally started its journey for Nagercoil.. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

A 46-year-old Malad resident survived on sheer faith aboard a stranded local train for 18 hours before being reunited with his family early on Wednesday morning. A Jain by faith, he only had tea on Tuesday morning as he is observing the holy period of paryushan, and went for nearly 24 hours without having anything till he reached home.

Amarkant Jain (46), an IT consultant, left his residence on 7.45 a.m. on Tuesday, having had his last proper meal at 6 p.m. on Monday, when the rain was still moderate in its intensity and trains were running smoothly, to deliver a lecture at the V.N. Bedekar college in Thane. He caught a train back home around 12.50 p.m., which reached Kurla before getting stuck in the waterlogged tracks.

“The water was knee deep at the time and our train was caught between a boundary wall and another train. As the day passed, the water rose up to waist level and walking through it, especially in the dark was not an option. I kept speaking to my wife Mayura whenever I could, as I also had to preserve my cell phone’s battery, while waiting for help to arrive and also ensuring no one panicked in our compartment,” Mr. Jain told

The Hindu .

Back home, Mrs. Jain had to ensure her two children and mother-in-law did not panic as well as keep up a steady stream of tweets to draw the attention of the authorities to her husband’s plight.

“Deputy Commissioner of Police Samadhan Pawar with the Railway Police, and a woman officer with the control room kept talking to me throughout the night till the water receded and the police could reach the train, which was the sixth in a line of stranded trains,” Mrs. Jain said.

Mr. Jain reached home at 7.45 a.m. on Wednesday, 24 hours after he left for work on Tuesday. The Jains said their faith in the system was renewed after the incident.