Roach coach

After officials at two stations fail to clean pest-infested train, passengers pull chain; clean-up and written apology by officials got them moving 2 hours later 
Yogesh Avasthi 
Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011092320110923015322902b035bc0e/Roach-coach.html)

Cockroaches (circled) crawled out of sockets, window panes and berths, said passengers Imagine hordes of cockroaches crawling over you. Disgusting? Now, imagine the hairy pests crawling all over you in a closed room. This was the plight of passengers who were forced to share bed and food with roaches and even rats inside the Hapa-Bandra Express. The holiday special train, which had left Hapa at 5 pm on Wednesday, was brought to a halt by agitated passengers at Ahmedabad Railway Station at 11 pm after railway officials en route failed to act on their repeated complaints. The train left the station two hours later after officials got the compartments cleaned and also tendered a written apology for their negligence.  Unending ordeal The ordeal began soon after the train was flagged off from Hapa. “We were about to open our tiffins when we saw armies of cockroaches fanning out of sockets, windowpanes and the berths. In seconds, they were everywhere. Some crawled on the water bottles and even dropped in my tiffin. I threw the food away and remained hungry,” said Hasmukh Vaishnav, a 45-year-old clothes trader who was going to Mumbai to close a business deal.  AC coaches hit The worst-affected were passengers of AC 3-tier, B-1 coach. “The cockroaches were crawling into our clothes and luggage. The kids began crying. We tried swatting the pests away but there were so many, we grew tired soon,” said a female passenger, refusing to be named. “I had taken out my laptop to finish some work. But the roaches began running over the computer and my fingers. They were coming out of the berths and it became difficult to sit. We also saw rodents running helter-skelter. The entire coach was overrun with the pests,” said Neeraj Shah an insurance agent travelling in B-1 coach. Passing the buck What angered passengers was the indifference shown by railway officials. When the train reached Rajkot, the passengers complained to the station authorities about the insects. Instead of cleaning the coaches, the officials passed on a message to the next station. When the train reached Surendranagar, the passengers approached the authorities again. This time, they were told that the clean-up would be conducted at Ahmedabad station. The train arrived here at 11.30 pm but there was no cleaner was in sight. A passenger said, “We spoke to station authorities who said there was nothing they could do as the train should have been cleaned at Hapa railway yard. And now, it was upto the Bandra division to look after maintenance. We asked the coaches to be replaced, but the officials said there was none available.” Indifferent officials The authorities tried their best to avoid delaying the train. They even flagged off the train. But vexed passengers pulled the chain and sat on the platform, raising slogans. “Railways claim to spend crores of rupees over maintenance and cleanliness of coaches. Where is the money going? Is it being used to feed cockroaches and rats?’’ asked Kalpash P Jugi, an entrepreneur from Mumbai, who was travelling in B-1 coach.  Teams from the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police were called in. When the passengers refused to budge, officials finally got the coaches sprayed with insecticide. This did failed to appease the angry passengers. They agreed to get on the train only after Chief Train Examiner Kiran Pawar and Deputy Station Superintendent L M Tiwari tendered a written apology and sent a cleaner along with the train.  Train left at 1.20 am from platform no 7, almost two hours after scheduled departure. It was still missing two passengers, Dawoodi Bohra businessmen who unsure of whether the pest-ridden train would make it to its destination on expected time, decided to catch a flight to Mumbai. ecurring problem Divisional Railways Manager (Ahmedabad) Rakesh Behal admitted to the problem. “We tried to resolve the issue when the train reached Ahmedabad. However, the passengers were not satisfied.” He added that Bandra division had primary responsibility of maintaining the train. When contacted, Rajkot DRM Ved Pal said the problem had occurred mainly because there was no AC coach available for replacement. “The AC coach could not be disinfected and there was no alternative coach available. Once the train returns, we will replace the particular coach.” Sources disclosed that cockroaches and rodents, particularly in AC coaches, are the biggest menace for the railways authorities. On July 18, 2010, passengers of Mumbai-Howrah Duronto Express staged protests at Howrah station after they discovered a cockroach in a meal supplied on the train. In another incident, passengers aboard Saket Express on July 22, 2010 had to pull the chain thrice to get the railway authorities to change their insect-infested coaches. On June 28, 2010, Passengers of the Ahmedabad-Delhi Swarna Jayanti Rajdhani Express caught as many as six rats with the help of TTE. The railways had formed a three-member committee to look into the case. Data collected through an RTI by Mirror revealed that Ahmedabad officials spent over Rs 23 lakh for pest and rodent control in all coaches from January 2010 to June 30, 2011. Figures are only for trains maintained by Ahmedabad railway division. An official said the problem of rodents and cockroaches persist even after spending crores of rupees to tackle the menace every year. “These are compounded by passengers who drop eatables on the floor and leave coaches unclean. Rodents feed and cockroaches thrive in such unhygienic environment. We are now using strong insecticides like Propoxur and Lambda-cyhalothrin (ICON) to keep control of their population,” the official added.