Ambubachi Mela: How Railways is going to handle rush - 10 points

The four-day Ambubachi Mela is all set to begin starting Saturday and the rush at the Guwahati and Kamakhya stations is expected to be quite heavy. Northeast Frontier Railway will have to bear the load of trasnporting the public to and from the site. The Railways has revealed that it has taken up various measures for the smooth handling of passengers expected there including setting up a 24-hour control room.

What Railways has done:

1. Railways has opened specific desks at Kamakhya station to provide information to pilgrims, and announcements are made in local languages frequently about trains to various directions along with facilities available for the passengers.

2. NF Railway has also deployed adequate security staff at platforms, foot over bridges, entry gates, level crossing gates and nearby railway tracks to streamline the rush of pilgrims for proper crowd monitoring.

3. Railways paramedical staff has been deployed along with basic medicines to provide assistance to the pilgrims. A doctor would be available in the station round the clock and packets of ORS have been stocked for distribution among people who suffer from dehydration.

4. Stoppage time of major trains at Kamakhya station has been increased by two to five minutes to provide adequate boarding/de-boarding time to pilgrims while attaching additional coaches in a few trains has also been planned.

5. Proper sanitation at stations will be maintained by deploying additional staff and unauthorised vendors will not be allowed.

6. Additional drinking water taps have been provided at station premises.

7. Volunteers from Railway Scouts and Guides will be deployed round-the-clock to ensure smooth movement of pilgrims during boarding and de-boarding of trains.

8. Proper illumination of the entire station and surrounding areas is being done.