People will have to wait to catch local trains: CM Thackeray

Amid growing demand by the general public to be allowed in local trains in Mumbai, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that people will have to wait as the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic still looms large.

The suburban train services in the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) is considered the lifeline of India’s financial capital.

“As of now, the general public would not be allowed as there is a possibility of a third wave,” Thackeray told reporters in Sangli district, where he has been to review the flood-affected regions.

Thackeray also urged the management of workplaces to alter or change the timings accordingly for their employees so as to avoid crowding on roads and public transport.

However, Thackeray has assured some relaxation to shops and other establishments.

Meanwhile, a PIL has been filed by the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh in the Bombay High Court seeking to declare journalists and other media personnel as essential workers and allow them to travel by Mumbai’s suburban locals.

The PIL states that 12 states have declared journalists and media personnel as frontline workers but Maharashtra has not done the same.

Various journalists associations and clubs have been demanding that journalists be treated as frontline workers and be allowed to travel in local trains.

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