A group of at least 120 labourers were taken to a shelter in Akurdi by Pimpri Chinchwad police as a Shramik Express train to Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh ran out of space on Thursday afternoon.
“I’m travelling alone. My entire family is waiting at home. We could see the train and a token was given to me. I thought, I’m finally going home. And then the officials simply asked us to go back, stating that the train is full,” said Kaimuddin, 40, who works in a private company in Pimpri-Chinchwad and was in the list of Sangvi police station.
“I was living in the company where I work. I have left that space because my name appeared in the list. Half of my people are already on the train. I cannot go back to the factory because they will not take us back. What should I do?” asked an exasperated Sagib Alam, 27, who works in a company in Phase 3 of Hinjewadi.
Multiple families with children were seen walking out of the station around 2:15pm with bags, buckets, bottles and all the belongings that they could muster up. The state police as well as Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials were escorting them out of the station.
{{/usCountry}}Multiple families with children were seen walking out of the station around 2:15pm with bags, buckets, bottles and all the belongings that they could muster up. The state police as well as Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials were escorting them out of the station.
{{/usCountry}}“They filled in less people compared to the normal number. We tried to adjust on the trains meant for Pune city police. However, it could not be adjusted. So we are taking them to a temporary shelter in Akurdi where they will spend the night. Food will be provided. And in the morning, they will be put on the first train to their destination,” said police inspector Ajay Jogdand who is the nodal officer for Zone-2 of Pimpri-Chinchwad police.
All the nodal officials - Pune police, Pimpri-Chinchwad police, and tehsil officers in rural areas - have been allotted with certain number of trains as per the number of applications received by them, according to railway officials.
“The nodal officials are informed about the train capacity of a particular train as per rake availability in advance. The rule is that not more than 90 per cent of the train capacity can be filled. If they bring in more people, the train cannot adjust them,” said a railway official requesting anonymity.
While a reason that necessitated such a move cannot be pin-pointed, the people will spend the night at a shelter home and await the train on Friday morning, said officials.