E-Paper
Vendors at Ludhiana railway station out of work due to limited trains, low footfall of passengers
TOUGH TIME All the stalls and moving trolleys provided at platform numbers from 1 to 7 are closed and not working
Rail services were partially restored 19 days ago, but over 75 vendors are still without work due to low footfall of passengers at the railway station here.
Vendors said, earlier, around 150 to 200 trains used to traverse from Ludhiana with a footfall of around 80,000 passengers daily and they were able to earn their living by selling eatables. But, now there are very few passengers and many of them do not want to buy or eat from the stalls anything due to coronavirus scare.
A visit to the railway station revealed that all the stalls and trolleys provided at platform numbers from 1 to 7 are closed and not operational.
It was found that most vendors hailed from Himachal Pradesh and they went back to their hometowns when lockdown was imposed.
Those belonging to Ludhiana have returned to run their stalls and trolleys, but with only 9 pairs of trains passing the station daily, they do not have enough customers.
A majority of the stalls and moving trolleys sell food items such as ‘chhole kulche’, chips, cold drinks, biscuits, water bottles, etc to passengers at the station.
Secretary of the Vendors’ Cooperative Society Ram Swaroop said, “After the Railways suspended train services in March due to lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus, all vendors lost their source of income and have been without work since then.”
He said, “There are many vendors, who are above 55, and working at the station for the past 25 to 30 years here, but, with the changed situation due to Covid-19, it may not be possible for them to get back to work.”
Suresh Kumar, a 41-year-old vendor, said, “I want to get back to work but, as the number of corona cases has been on the rise, my family is not allowing me to do so. I have exhausted all my savings during the last three months and now I depend on the NGO, which is providing one-time meal to the poor. The Railways must resume train services so that vendors are able to earn their living.”
