The enthusiasm of the devotees for Mahakumbh is at its peak, but there is also an atmosphere of chaos at railway stations. On Tuesday, a large crowd of people visiting Prayagraj for Magh Purnima bathing gathered at Patna Junction, causing the situation to become uncontrollable. The situation deteriorated so much that passengers from reservation bogies to AC coaches took possession.
Patna Junction was also packed on Wednesday. The race of people to climb trains was so much that there was no space left to place sesame on the platform. As soon as Vikramshila Express reached the platform, thousands of passengers started climbing amidst pushing. Many people fell, children started crying, and passengers with reserve seat could not reach their seat.
Vibhuti, Sampool Kranti, Magadha, Purva, Tejas and Kumbh special trains saw a wild crowd. The situation was that many passengers started offering their families inside the emergency windows of the train. At the same time, the trapped passengers were able to get out with great difficulty.
Due to the crowd, many passengers stopped the trains by pulling the chain. TTE and RPF jawans failed to handle the situation. The ticket holders could not reach their booked seat, and many trains were missed. Rumors also spread that without tickets can be traveled, so that without ticket passengers also reached the station in large numbers.
The railway administration has run some additional trains in view of the crowd, but the situation is still out of control. Handling the growing crowd for Mahakumbh is nothing short of a major challenge for the Railways.
