Due to the terrible train accident in Odisha, India, many Bangladeshis are in trouble in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore. 123 trains to South India were canceled after the accident. 56 trains detoured and 10 trains shortened. Hundreds of thousands of passengers have been stuck on their way to and from Bangalore and Chennai in the southern state of Karnataka for treatment. A big part of it is Bangladesh.
Many people are stuck at the station due to severe heat wave on one side and train cancellation on the other side. There is a shortage of seats in hotels. Bangladeshi people who went to India for treatment have suffered due to this.
Passengers say that many of them have doctor’s appointments, if they do not arrive at the specified time, there will be no complicated operations. So they spend the night at the station. But those who have good financial condition, they are going to the destination by plane.
Hundreds of Bangladeshis are expected to go for treatment at CMC Hospital in Vellore. They are waiting at Howrah station since morning. They are in dire straits without giving any news about the train movement. No one can say whether the train will run even if the ticket to Bangalore is in hand. They cannot understand where to go, what to do, where to stay.
Kaushik Mitra, CHIP Public Relations Officer of the South Eastern Branch of the Railways, said that the railway department was able to open a line to the accident site after Sunday afternoon. Howrah-bound up trains stuck at various stations using that line have started running at slow speed. But still everything is not normal. He asked the Bangladeshi passengers to wait more.
The railway authorities are hopeful that they will be able to start the second rail line at the accident site at night till the last news. When that line is opened, the down train movement will be gradually normalized.