Thrissur: When the passengers boarded the Mumbai ALT – Kochuveli Super Fast Express, they hardly had any idea about the ordeal that awaited them. They endured nine long hours in the night, from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra to Udupi in Karnataka, unable to sleep, under the leaky roof of the compartment. The leak was at the part of the ceiling where the lamp was fixed, in the S7 coach. Meanwhile, cellophane tapes were used to keep the shaky lamp in place. In the heavy rains, the tape loosened, bringing in the rainwater. The rain that began at 2 am continued for a few hours. When the compartment got wet, passengers got up from their seats and huddled on one side of the coach for the rest of the journey.
Thrissur Anandapuram native Nereparambil NP Varkey who is settled in Kalyan, Mumbai, says, “My family and I boarded the train from Thane at 5.05 pm on Saturday to attend the funeral of a close relative. The ceiling began to leak when the rains got stronger in the night. The coach was leaking at many places and the seats were covered in rainwater. There were lots of passengers, including women and children in the coach.” Even though the passengers complained to the cleaning supervisor in the train, he apparently asked how could they predict the rain. Passengers say the situation inside the compartment was pathetic as they couldn’t even close the windows and bathroom doors. Despite complaining many times, the authorities didn’t care to address the issue until 11 am on Sunday, according to the passengers. After registering a complaint in the RailMadad, a grievance redressal mechanism, a few officials apparently came in to inspect the compartment. However, they tried to fix another cellophane tape after removing the old one. Some passengers tried to object saying that the leak should be fixed from outside. But, the officials sealed the area around the loosened lamp using more tape, say the passengers. The railway authorities have not responded to the allegations yet and their version will be updated once they respond to Onmanorama’s queries.
