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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Left at God's mercy in 'world class' Delhi railway station by Surojit Gupta

Left at God's mercy in 'world class' Delhi railway station by Surojit Gupta

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published Published on Jun 26, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 26, 2011

On a muggy Saturday morning I was waiting on platform No.12 at the New Delhi Railway station to receive my family returning from Varanasi. The train was delayed by 40 minutes and I decided to stroll around the station to kill time. I had filth, stench and chaos for company. Suddenly, I saw a clump of about 15 people hemming something lying on the ground. I broke through the cordon and saw two young men lying unconscious on the floor.

Some in the crowd sprinkled water on their faces to bring them around. I looked around for a policeman. There was none in sight. Nobody made an effort to take the two young men -- one of whom was supposed to take a train to Orissa -- to hospital. Frantically, I searched for a railway official, who could help rush the two unconscious men to hospital.

Some pickpockets had apparently drugged the duo and vanished with their wallets. They had spared their baggage though.

I ran up and down platforms and only after 10 minutes did I track down a Delhi Police constable, Mukesh Kumar. I introduced myself as a journalist and the young constable immediately offered help.

He rushed to the spot and tried to revive the two men. By then one of them had regained consciousness, but was still groggy and in a stupor. But his friend was throwing up. Mukesh, with the help of another man, dragged them to a tap and gave them water.

The police constable worked the phone furiously in search for medical help. He was unsuccessful. I asked Mukesh whether there was a medical room or an emergency response team in the station. He said there was none. "Sir, we help the railways but there are hardly any facilities for tackling such situations within the station."

Constable Mukesh offered to take the two men, who had been apparently drugged by some pickpockets at the New Delhi Railway Station, on an autorickshaw to the closest medical facility. I asked him to call an ambulance. Despite little help coming, he bravely assured me he would get them to a hospital. But as the clock ticked and things began to look grim, I called up a colleague who intervened and informed the ambulance service and other railway officials.

I thanked Mukesh for his help and rushed to receive my family who were waiting on platform number 5. On my way out of the station, I spotted a CATS ambulance which had come to take the two young men to hospital. I don't know what happened to them but hope they are on their way to recovery. Perhaps their families have been informed.

Lakhs of passengers from across the country use the New Delhi station, which aspires to be world class and is among the busiest in the country, handling roughly 350 trains a day.

Shockingly, it lacks any emergency response system. Hundreds of crores have been spent to upgrade it to a "model" railway station. Truth is, it lags way behind. Neglect and apathy are writ large across the vast station. Safety and dignity of human life are regularly compromised.

Five years ago, the railways had announced ambitious plans to upgrade the New Delhi station to "world class" but it seems the plans have lost their way in the maze of red tape.

The Times of India, 26 June, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Left-at-Gods-mercy-in-world-class-Delhi-railway-station/articleshow/8995406.cms


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