MARGAO
Rail passengers travelling by the Margao-Karwar DEMU train on Wednesday highlighted their plight, as they exposed the railway authorities for not maintaining the train timings and the overall unhygienic environment on platform no 6 at the Margao railway station.
Passengers led by a banker Alvira told the media that the Margao-Karwar train is scheduled to leave the Margao railway station at 7.20 pm, but the train leaves at around 7.45 pm or even at 8 pm for reasons best known to the railway authorities.
She pointed out that since the train is running after dusk, neither ticket checkers nor the railway protection personnel travel by the train to Karwar.
“I have been told that the CCTV cameras on the train are not functioning. I am the lone woman travelling by this train to Karwar. Is there any safety and security for woman passengers on this train?”, she demanded to know.
Saying the late departure of the train has put the travellers from Karwar to severe hardships, Alvira pointed out that she starts her day in the wee hours of the day at around 4 am just to catch the train back to Margao.
“Since the train is running late from Margao, we reach home at Karwar late and we all miss the last bus to our destinations”, she said, as she made a fervent plea to the railway authorities to stick to the timing.
She and other Karwar-bound rail passengers also raised the Iissue of the stinking environment near the platform No 6 of the Margao railway station.
“Late evenings, there is no presence of the police at the platform. Hence, we find drunkards loitering around the area. We all fear for our lives. Either the railway police should conduct patrolling or they should get the drunkards out of the railway platform”, she said, adding that the entire place raises a stink with people coming to answer their nature’s call.
