No end to commuters' woes at Mangalore Junction

When businessman Pramod Bhaktha of the city had to board a train at Mangalore Junction (erstwhile Kankanadi station) last year, it started raining. The coach he had to board was nearly 200 metres away. By the time he reached the coach, he was drenched.“So were about 20 college girls and boys,” Mr. Bhaktha told The Hindu at the railway station on Monday. “It is a big problem,” he said. The shelters cover only three or four coaches whereas most trains here have more than 20 coaches.Mr. Bhaktha is just one of the many commuters who highlighted this as a key problem commuters faced at the station. “Then, there are no porters here,” added real estate agent and areca businessman Rajesh Vardhan. “Older people, those who have to carry children have a big problem on hand,” he said.Retired electrical engineer Thomas Braganza, who wanted to travel by Mangalore-Mumbai superfast train on Monday, was perplexed that the train with majority of its commuters boarding from here was scheduled to arrive on the second platform. In the absence of ramp for the foot-over bridge he and many others had to carry the rolling bags (ones that come with wheels). “On top of it, there are no porters,” he said.Many commuters said transport to and from the station continued to be a big problem in the absence of a pre-paid counter. “No autorickshaw driver uses meter,” said trader Arvindkumar Baldev. He and Mr. Bhaktha said commuters alighting at the station at night had to face taxi drivers and autorickshaw drivers who gang up to fleece them. “You have to pay Rs. 200 for autorickshaw and Rs. 400 for the cab,” Mr. Bhaktha said.The absence of adequate coach guidance system on second platform, narrow road (shortcut) from Naguri, lack of cleanliness, non-availability of good food on the platforms were among the other problems highlighted by commuters.S. James, Public Relations Officer, Palakkad Division, said the Railways had sanctioned extension of shelter on platform 1 to cover four more coaches and to provide coach guidance system on platform 2. Agreeing that there was no porter at the junction, he said nobody had applied for the job when called for.Mangalore MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said he had written to Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi and the Railways Board about the need to extend the shelters. He would hold a meeting with the divisional manager within the next 15 days regarding other problems. He would persuade the Mangalore City Corporation to widen the road from Naguri to the railway station and seek pre-paid autorickshaw counter, he added.