Passengers waiting in queues at the New Delhi Railway Station on Monday. 
| Photo Credit: ANI

Two days after 18 people lost their lives in a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on their way to the Maha Kumbh in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, dozens of paramilitary personnel have been posted as a measure to control crowd surges.

Several police officers have also been deployed to man the foot overbridge that connects all the platforms at the railway station. A senior Railway Protection Force (RPF) officer told The Hindu that passengers are now strictly not allowed to loiter and wait on the overbridge.

In addition, a tent has been set up near the exit gate, where passengers going to Prayagraj can wait before their train arrives. “To ensure that people are not occupying space inside the station much before their train arrives, staff members are continuously announcing about the tent where they can wait,” he added. Two medical help desks have also been set up at platforms 1 and 16 to assist passengers in case of emergencies.

To control the movement of the crowd, the railway station has been barricaded and police officers have been instructed to allow passengers to enter the station in a single line. At least 10 officers of the Rapid Action Force and the RPF have also been deployed at platform 16, which is now the designated platform for all Prayagraj-bound trains.

‘Thankful for a seat’

Meanwhile, the second seating or 2S coaches inside the Kumbh special trains remained crowded. Passengers who boarded a special train at 3 p.m. waited for at least three hours before the train departed from the New Delhi station.

However, several of them said that they were “thankful” to get a seat.

Meenu Devi, 46, who boarded the special train from U.P.’s Laxmi Nagar with her two daughters, said that while there was no space to sit, the special train tickets cost them less than ₹250. “It is not as crowded as I expected it to be. The situation is better than the other trains where people are sitting on top of each other.”

Another passenger, Sonu Kumar, a Delhi resident, said while the increased police security made him feel “safe to travel”, there were other issues that were still unresolved. “We did not have any information about the revised timings after the delay and we cannot check the live schedule on the Internet either.”

Mr. Kumar said he paid more than ₹250 for a ticket on the 2S coach.

(With inputs from Alisha Dutta)