Covid-19 cases are increasing in the country and state governments are once again issuing new guidelines. Several of them have already imposed night curfew. With these orders in place, people are afraid that the railways might stop their services soon in view of the situation created by the current surge in infections. The Sunday Guardian spoke exclusively with Director General of Railway Protection Force Arun Kumar about the issue.
Q: Due to a partial lockdown in Maharashtra and the imposition of night curfew in many states, migrant labourers are being seen going to their homes once again, because of which crowds are being seen at many stations. Is this true?
A: This news is wrong. The video shown today is an old video from last year, edited with today’s date. After getting this information, GM Central Mumbai and Eastern interacted with the press and clarified that these videos are completely fake. There is no such migrant crisis or chaotic situation. Initially, due to the imposition of night curfew, some passengers were left on the platform, who were shown as ‘crowds’. Moreover, during this season, we run summer special trains. In their summer vacations, people go to their homes, due to which we decided that special trains be increased. The Central Railway is running around six trains and Eastern Railway is running three special trains. The crowd has been reduced due to these special trains. Secondly, we have also contacted the Mumbai Police and told them to go to where the labourers work or reside and assure them that no complete lockdown is going to happen. No need to panic, no need to go home. The Mumbai Police is conducting this work correctly. We are constantly in contact with each other through the web. The situation is completely under control, no problem.
Q: Where is the chaos most visible? In Maharashtra or other states?
A: I do not believe that there is an atmosphere of chaos. Night curfew does not mean that there is chaos. The night curfew has been imposed to control the new wave of the coronavirus. Things are operating normally during the day.
This wave of the coronavirus has come as a result of some carelessness. An entire campaign is now being carried out to make a ‘mask movement’ under the Covid protocols. As we have to live with the virus, we are required to wear masks and maintain social distancing. So, we should make a habit of distancing socially along with putting on face masks.
Q: Which states pose a bigger challenge, where you had to explain things to the most teams and people?
A: That is definitely Mumbai as it has the most trains. Mumbai is the most crowded city. Therefore, Mumbai needs the most deployment, the most awareness and more efforts are needed to implement the protocol to its maximum, which is already going on. This situation was not faced in other places.
Q: Has the movement of any trains been stopped due to the rush?
A: No trains have been cancelled, but some special trains are running regularly. Several special trains have been run from Mumbai to eastern cities.