NEW DELHI: Following the stampede that claimed 18 lives at New Delhi Railway Station last Saturday, TOI visited the other railway stations in the city to find varying levels of preparedness to deal with emergencies. Railway authorities are, of course, beefing up safety protocols and supplementing crowd management efforts to prevent a repeat of Saturday’s tragedy, but while some stations displayed enhanced measures, others fell short in certain areas, notably medical emergency preparedness.
Following the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, inspections revealed varied emergency preparedness levels across other city stations
At Anand Vihar Railway Station, the boost in security measures was evident amid the huge crowds heading to Bihar and the Maha Kumbh. Eight trains were travelling to Prayagraj on Tuesday, including a special, from the station, which has seven platforms. A medical booth was present at platform 1, where Ram Swaroop Meena, the person in charge, said passengers were provided medicines for fever and other minor ailments. There was an ambulance on standby for use in serious cases. According to railway officials, oxygen is available in the ambulances stationed outside all railway stations.
Rail passengers said that there should be more medical booths at Anand Vihar. Rajkumar, 51, of Gamri Extension in Shahdara, was at the station, preparing to travel to Bihar for a marriage function. “I regularly board trains from this station. In comparison with some earlier journeys, the security has been heightened this time,” he revealed.
Imtiyaz Ahmad of Batla House, also travelling to Bihar on the Sapt Kranti Express, differed with Rajkumar. “Given the large crowds at this station, I think more security personnel should be posted,” he said. As the crowd surged onto the platform, a woman Railway Protection Force officer urged passengers not to breach the rope barrier. When the Sapt Kranti Express arrived, the RPF personnel used loud hailers and whistles to signal passengers to be patient when boarding the train.
At Old Delhi Railway Station, at least six Prayagraj trains, including two Maha Kumbh specials, were leaving between 4.20am and 11.25pm. The station has 16 platforms, entry to which were manned by RPF personnel at the scanner and the gate. Overall, however, the checks and measures did not seem urgent enough given the New Delhi catastrophe.
Compared with New Delhi or Anand Vihar, the platform bridges at Old Delhi were relatively uncrowded. Most passengers had congregated on platforms 12 and 13, where noticeably, no security officials were present. The platform space was cluttered by beddings and luggage. While Bhainal, a hawker on the platform, claimed that after the stampede at New Delhi on Saturday, security had been increased for the special Maha Kumbh trains, this wasn’t much in evidence. People could be seen perilously close to the edge of the platform. Notably, platform 13 lacked even the basic safety barrier of ropes to prevent accidental falls. Some people were crossing the tracks to enter the station. There was no medical booth in sight, though a railway official argued that the station was close to a hospital and there wasn’t much of a rush anyway.
Rupesh, a 25-year-old sound designer, was waiting for a train to Faridabad. He described the operations as “very smooth”. He said, “People should understand that if there’s a rush, they shouldn’t panic. But security personnel must be present in adequate numbers and improve crowd management to prevent any untoward incident.”
Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station displayed a mix of security preparedness and laxity. At the main entrance, staff members diligently verified tickets and directed passengers to their platforms. Two RPF personnel were stationed at the baggage scanner, scrutinising each bag that passed through. However, while the platform area was surprisingly calm, with minimal crowd and rush, there was a noticeable lack of patrolling by RPF. The hawkers revealed that RPF staff only came when trains were about to arrive and got embarking passengers to form queues. There was no medical booth at the station and outside the station, there was a knot of traffic.
While the enhanced measures are a step in the right direction, much appeared yet to be achieved at the stations. The infrastructure seemed inadequate, meaning the risk of overcrowding and stampedes remained high. Nevertheless, the increased vigilance and some added measures taken by the authorities were welcome and the passengers hoped these would continue to improve the overall travel experience.
