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Bengal: Covid-19 safety norms take a back seat as local train services resume
Local train services were cancelled in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They were allowed to resume in November 2020 only to be cancelled again in May when the second wave hit
Covid-19 safety norms took a back seat on Monday as local train services resumed in Bengal after six months. Even though the services resumed from Sunday, the violations were more rampant on Monday, the first day of the week, with thousands of office goers availing the services.
While most of the trains were packed with passengers jostling for space, many were not even wearing masks.
The Bengal government on Friday allowed local train services to resume from October 31 even as it extended Covid-19 restrictions for another month. “Intra-state local train movement may operate with 50% of seating capacity,” it said in an order.
Local train services were cancelled in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They were allowed to resume in November 2020 only to be cancelled again in May when the second wave of the pandemic hit.
Also Read: Maharashtra records 30% dip in Covid-19 cases in October
“We cannot run the services smoothly amid the pandemic, unless the passengers cooperate with us and help us abide by the rules,” said Ekalabya Chakraborty, spokesperson for Eastern Railway.
Staff special trains for government officials were already running.
Before the pandemic hit, the railways ran 920 services in the Sealdah division and around 490 in the Howrah division. South Eastern Railway (SER) operated 190 local trains. On Sunday, SER ran 49 local trains.
A train compartment has a seating capacity for 124 passengers. For 50% occupancy, not more than 62 should board a compartment. But on many trains, the compartments were packed. The railway authorities even marked the seats so that one seat is left vacant between two passengers.
“We are regularly announcing over the public address system so that people can follow the Covid-19 safety norms and avoid crowding. The RPF and GRP personnel along with ticket examiners were there to check whether people were wearing masks. But passengers also need to cooperate,” said a railway official.
Bengal has been reporting over 900 Covid-19 cases daily over the past few days. On Sunday, 914 cases were registered across the state. The Centre has also warned the state of rising Covid-19 cases after the Durga puja.
With the cases shooting up, the state government has reimposed micro containment zones in districts including Howrah.
