Thousands of commuters are still waiting for green signal to board on local trains
Local trains to start for everyone? Maharashtra government says no objection to increase the frequency
Thousands of commuters in Mumbai and suburban areas could get a major relief as the Maharashtra government has said that the local train services may be used by the general public provided they wear masks and follow social distancing norms.
However, the final decision is yet to be taken on the matter.
The submission was made by Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni in the Bombay High Court during the hearing on a bunch of petitions seeking a direction to the state government to include lawyers and their staff in essential services so that they can use the local trains.
The high court had earlier noted that railway services need to correspond with the partial lifting of lockdown and suggested an increase in the frequency of local trains being run in Mumbai to check overcrowding.
At present, the local train services are not available for all commuters. Only those in the essential services’ staff, state and central government staff are among those who have been allowed to travel by train. The limited number of trains amid the COVID-19 pandemic are also leading to over-crowding and the norms of social distancing are going for a toss.
On the other hand, several office goers, who do not fall in the essential categories have to travel by the MSRTC buses or private vehicles which is not only taking them seven to eight hours to commute back and forth from home, but also proving expensive.
The court has also been informed that the state government does not have any objection now to increase the frequency of local trains in Mumbai.
Advocate General on increasing trains frequency.
However, Kumbhakoni said that people are not wearing masks and do not maintain social distancing, and added, “Coronavirus has not booked a return ticket. It is here to stay. Hence people need to be careful.”
Advocate General on COVID-19.
According to a news agency, he also gave an example of late singer S P Balasubrahmanyam, who was infected with COVID-19 ‘because of a mistake of sharing a mike with another person.
He added that it is almost like people would rather wear an oxygen mask in the ICU bed of a hospital than a mask (to cover their nose and mouth).
The court observed said that it the state government’s duty to enforce the guidelines of safety norms and social distancing rules.
It also suggested staggered office timings to decrease peak hour rush in trains to ensure that everyone does not end up at the railway station at the same time.
The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on October 19.
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