150 passengers stranded at Bathinda railway station

Ravi Chandel

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 26

Owing to the tensed situation on the second day in a row, trains did not ply from the Bathinda Railway Junction, leaving around 150 passengers stranded midway.

A number of passengers said luckily no untoward incident had happened here, but still the administration had to look after problems of passengers.

“We were having children and women with us and spending our time on platforms,” they said.

“We are not asking to provide special treatment to us, but the authorities concerned should do the needful as during rains roofs of platforms start leaking. They should shift us to another place in such a situation,” they said.

Harish Kumar, a passenger, said: “Though the authorities concerned has done all needful arrangements, still a lot needs to be done. They should construct a waiting room on the platforms for the convenience of the passengers.”

There is only a single waiting room at the railway station, which is for passengers of the AC coaches, he said.

Lalit Prakash, another passenger, said, “We got stuck here since the past two days and only we know the circumstances through which we are going through. Besides, a few NGOs had come forward and were distributing food and tea among the passengers.

Station Superintendent Ramswaroop Meena said: “We are making all needful arrangements for the passengers. We even asked vendors to provide tea free of cost to them. Moreover, the trains will not ply till 12 pm. We will start plying trains only when we will get orders from the Ambala headquarters.”