Confessions of a railway officer during the Bangalore exodus

“At that point, we had no inkling that it was Northeasterners who were fleeing Bangalore. The central station was packed”

I will remember this Independence Day forever. We worked overtime and in unprecedented circumstances. In the four days of 15–18 August, we went home just once. We had to organise special trains to handle the exodus.

The signs were visible since early that morning. A huge number of people were buying unreserved tickets to Guwahati on the Bangalore-Guwahati Express. As the numbers crossed 5,000 by noon, our commercial officers alerted us. On reserved trains like the Bangalore-Guwahati, you cannot allow more than about 1,500 passengers.  As per rules, if more than 2,000 tickets are booked on a single train, we have to add additional coaches or run an extra train.

As the regular train runs with 22 coaches, we could add only two more (a train can have a maximum of 24). So we decided to run an extra train and worked out the logistics with the six different railway zones en route. The coaching division decided to attach a combination of spare sleeper and general coaches to make up a special. By now, more than 6,000 had bought tickets to Guwahati, forcing us to plan a second special train.

At that point, we had no inkling that it was Northeasterners who were fleeing Bangalore. The central station was packed, mostly with youths. The police had to be called in as state ministers visited the station, assuring people that Bangalore was safe for them. But no one cancelled their tickets. Besides, the Railways cannot stop issuing unreserved tickets unless an order to that effect comes from the Railway Ministry.

The station was a circus—there were ministers, representatives of political parties and NGOs, passengers and volunteers distributing food. In all, we ran three regular and five extra trains to Guwahati. For our effort, the Bangalore division of the South Western Railway got a cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh.

(This officer has been with the Indian Railways for 15 years)

As told to Anil Budur Lulla

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arindam