One hell’uva journey from station to City

One hell’uva journey from station to City
Deccan Herald

If you land at the main gate of Yeshwanthpur Railway Station here, woe betide you! Instead of the ‘warm’ welcome Indian Railways religiously blare out to you at all major stations, you may find things a little too hot here -- unruly autodrivers, the stink from the adjacent fish market and the filth on roadside....

If you land at the main gate of Yeshwanthpur Railway Station here, woe betide you! Instead of the ‘warm’ welcome Indian Railways religiously blare out to you at all major stations, you may find things a little too hot here -- unruly autodrivers, the stink from the adjacent fish market and the filth on roadside....

Try taking an auto just to get away from the ‘heat’ and it gets even worse. “Madam, extra charge for luggage. Pay Rs 25 above the meter...”, demands the rick driver. The lady traveller tries not to give in: “I paid only Rs 28 to come to Bangalore from Arasikere, but you ask Rs 25 just to take my suitcase”.

Ganging up


Within seconds three other drivers gang in upon her and tells her to pay the sum “if you need an auto”. The baffled lady has no choice and gets in. This is a common scene even in day time.

The absence of a pre-paid auto counter (PPAC) at the old gate has proved a ‘bonanza’ for rickshaw drivers. A police official says hardly any rick driver goes by the meter reading. They start bargaining with a demand of Rs 25 over the meter.

“The meter would run up a fare of about Rs 50 to Bangalore City station from Yeshwanthpur station. But drivers demand Rs 150”.

Traveller-friendly!

The Railways’ Rs 2-crore upgradation works at the station this fiscal do not include a PPAC at the old entrance. The new entrance has a PPAC, but for those alighting at Platform 1 and 2 it is as good as beyond the pale. For that they need to trudge all the way to Platform 6 across the overbridge. There are no boards even to inform them that a PPAC is around.

As the old gate is close to Platform 1 and 2, they exit from that gate and face, yup, more of the same, the unruly autodrivers.

Besides, those getting down on these platforms have to suffer a lot as they won’t be able to sight a canteen, waiting room, cloak room or even toilets.

Senior Divisional Commercial Manager S Gagarin told Deccan Herald that the Bangalore division had, in addition to the Rs 2-crore works to make the station more passenger-friendly, stood to benefit from a Rs 7-crore comprehensive development plan for the station. Approval for the latter is expected, he said.

As for a new PPAC, Mr Gagarin said, “Right now it is impossible. We don’t have enough space to set up the counter at the old gate. We’ve asked the RPF to ensure that passengers are not harassed by autodrivers”. But in reality, no such police help for passengers is visible to the naked eye.

Though the BMTC bus stand is right in front of the main entrance, no board informing availability of public transport facility is displayed on the station premises. So desperate passengers just hop into the rickshaws, totally at the mercy of those who drive them.

As commuters move out of the station, the stink from shops where fish are piled up and ready-for-the-spit chicken and sheep are nailed onto the walls, gives them an olfactory shock. In addition, the wastes from these shops dumped on roadside make the ordeal even more hard to take.

And to think that this is the City of Gardens!

STATISTICS

6,200 people travel everyday

22 pair of trains pass through a day

Earns around Rs 2.5 crore a month

Gateway to trouble

At the main gate of the station, there is:

No prepaid auto counter

No rest room or cloak room

No visitors’ lounge

No toilet

No canteen