Rons Bantwal

Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Aug 7: Due to COVID-19, a national lockdown was imposed in March 2020 by the union government. Due to this, several out-station train services including the daily rail services of the Matsyagandha Express operating between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Mumbai to Mangaluru Junction had been stopped, until further orders. Further, since the suspension of rail services four months ago, there have not been any rail services connecting the two cities due to the national lockdown being extended in phases.

The Matsyagandha Express is the crucial artery of the Konkan Railways that connects various towns, villages and cities of coastal Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and even Kerala to the metropolitan city of Mumbai. Per rough estimates, it is used by thousands of people native to the above-mentioned states along with small businessmen and traders to travel between these destinations either for leisure, pilgrimage or for business. Suspension of this crucial rail service for the past four months has therefore substantially affected common people's lives including economic losses.

There are many migrants/workers and people (along with their families) belonging to lower economic strata who are stuck and are very keen on returning to their hometown due to the tough economic conditions and lack of work due to the lockdown in Mumbai. That it is becoming difficult for these people to arrange even daily necessities and most of them would rather prefer going back to their hometowns to find work and survive.

There are some others as well, including non-residents who are keen on going back to their native places/ hometowns in Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka who have been stuck in Mumbai ever since the lockdown was announced. In some cases, due to lack of train services, people are being forced to shell out exorbitant amounts to travel by road in crowded cars or buses, without any form of social distancing, to their hometowns which is very unsafe considering the prevalent situation.

It is necessary that the above problems being faced by the public are solved and resuming train services with precautions is the solution. The rail ministry can solve this problem by stepping in and facilitating travel in a safe and hygienic method, by following all prescribed unlock procedures and health directives issued by the centre as is being done with some other rail routes across the country. By resuming the operations of the Matsyagandha Express with proper safety precautions the above problems could be solved, and we would be a step closer to slowly restoring normalcy.