Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Dec 18: The commuters traveling by Banihal-Baramulla rail are having a tough time as the railway authorities are running the trains without window panes and have torn seats.
The irked commuters said that every day they have to brave sub zero temperatures to reach to their destinations as the authorities have failed to repair the damaged window panes.
“Look at the windows they have not been fixed from last two years. How can the Railways not provide such a basic facility to the commuters? I think the officials should be made to sit in front of an open window to understand the problems we face here”, Mohammad Ashraf, a daily commuter said.
Passengers particularly women and children complained of health issues caused due to cold winds that pass through the broken windows in coaches. “Wherever, I travel with my kids in such coaches they catch cold and fever. I often avoid these trains in winter but sometimes you have no choice but to travel in these metallic boxes”, a woman commuter said.
Earlier, the train services in Kashmir were suspended for nearly four months following the unrest triggered by the Killing of Hizb Militant Burhan Wani and his associates on September 8. During the unrest, the protestors damaged railway tracks at several places in South Kashmir and also pelting stones on the train which halted the services.
Chief Area Manager Northern Railways, Atul Kumar Jain said last year they have fitted temporary wooden shutters on the broken windows and this year the process had already been started, “To stop the winds we block the windows with wooden shutters. This was done last year and we will do it this year as well. The wooden shutters have been fitted in some coaches and within 10 to 15 days the rest of the windows will be also fixed”.
Asked when is department repairing the broken windows he said: “We have already made the assessment and placed the order but don’t know when will we receive it. As soon as the new window panes arrive we will fix them immediately,” he said.
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