Chaos at Kalyan station on Day 1 of railway pass allotment

As per the data collected from the seven railway stations, a total of 617 passes were issued in all these stations till 3pm

On the first day of the verification of documents for allotting local train monthly pass, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) verified documents of 2,506 commuters till 3pm on Wednesday at Kalyan, Dombivli, Titwala, Ambivli, Shahad, Thakurli and Kopar railway stations.

Passengers who have taken two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, queue up at the ticket counter for passes, at Thane Station. (HT PHOTO)

As per the data collected from the seven railway stations, a total of 617 passes were issued in all these stations till 3pm.

Similarly, 1,394 documents were verified at four stations of Diva, Mumbra, Kalwa and Thane by the Thane Municipal Corporation.

Long queues were seen outside Kalyan and Dombivli stations from 6am on the backdrop of trains operating for fully vaccinated commuters from August 15. While some commuters were clueless about the procedure for the verification and allotment of passes, some had carried all the documents related to their identification and vaccination.

“I have carried the vaccination certificate and my identification card. They were also asking for the Xerox copy of the ID card, which I didn’t have. It was not mentioned anywhere that the Xerox copy of the ID card was required. Moreover, we have to queue up twice, once for verification and the second time for getting the pass. This wastes a lot of time,” said Mahajan Surve, 40, one of the commuters at Kalyan railway station.

The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has deployed a dedicated team of ward officers, deputy commissioner and other staff members at the seven railway stations falling under its jurisdiction in two shifts, from 7am to 3pm and from 3pm to 11pm.

Suhas Gupte, ward officer managing the counter at Dombivli station, said, “Today is the first day of verification and people have started arriving at the counter since morning. People are coming with the soft copies of their documents which will not be considered. They should bring the hard copies so that we can stamp on them. These will be further verified by the railway staff for allotting the pass.”

Crowd better managed in Thane

With six helpdesks at Thane, Kalwa, Mumbra and Diva stations, the crowd was well managed by the Thane Municipal Corporation at the railway stations.

For Rajesh Jain, a resident of Tembhi Naka in Thane who travels to Crawford Market on a daily basis, getting a railway pass after a year-and-a-half was a relief. “I was fully vaccinated more than a month ago, so I could showcase my certificate and got a railway pass on Wednesday morning itself. There was no rush and the queue and verification counters were well organised. Currently, I am travelling by bus, which is expensive and time consuming as well. From next week I can take the train.”

Dr Vipin Sharma, Thane Municipal Corporation commissioner, said, “The verification facility is available from 7am to 11pm and employees of TMC were given training on Tuesday. Those who are eligible and want to travel on a regular basis can avail the pass facility. I appeal to the residents to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding.”