People were unable to digest the fact that they could not bid adieus to their loved ones till the departure of trains. Those who had come to receive the elderly or send-off single women were enraged at the restriction, which will be on till September 28. It was the ticket examiners and those manning counters who bore the brunt of the fury, when they announced that only passengers would be allowed entry into the platforms.
Dhaneshakaran, waiting to receive his mother arriving from Katpadi in Tamil Nadu, was seen pleading with a railway official. “My mother does not have a cell phone and is coming to the first time to the City. Where will I locate her if she leaves through the other gate?”he queried. Ramaiah, who had come to see off his son to Bhopal was equally distraught. “I don’t know when we can meet again. I wanted to be with him till the minute the train left,” he said.
Eliyas and three other family members were in for a shock when officials barred them from entering the platform to send off their aged uncle and aunt. “It is pathetic to see them leave like this. How do you expect them to fend for themselves at this age?,” he queried.
A ticket examiner manning the entry to the station had to constantly give this response to irate relatives and friends: “I am only implementing the rules. What can I do? ”An official at the counter was heard saying to relatives of passengers who were shouting at her, “Go complain to the minister. I am helpless.” The effect of the restriction was that there was very less passenger congestion on platforms.
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