Panvel-Nanded Express Halted At Pune Railway Station After Many Cockroaches Spotted in AC Coach

Pune 5th August 2023: Hundreds of passengers travelling in the Panvel-Nanded Express were stranded at the Pune Railway Station for over one hour on Saturday after the passengers travelling in the AC coach of the train complained of multiple cockroaches. The passengers claimed that the cockroaches were falling on the children and elders who were travelling in the train and the railway administration failed to take any action on it.

“I am in the AC coach B1 of Train No 17613 Panvel-Nanded train and there are cockroaches all over the coach. They are falling on the passengers including children and elders in this coach and the railway administration has failed to take any action on it. The train has been standing at the Pune Railway Station for over an hour” said one of the passengers, Kailas Mandlapure, who was travelling in the train.

One of the passengers travelling in the train also complained that a cockroach fell on his meal. “Train Number 17613, Case of too many cockroaches in 3A coach, I have attached image which has the cockroach fell into the meal of a passenger, after 4-5 complaints, one person came with black hit empty bottle. The same issue I have witnessed last to last week” Laxminarayan Sharma, a passenger tweeted.

@IRCTCofficial Train Number 17613,
Case too much Cockroach in 3A coach, I have attached a images which has the cockroach fell into the meal of a passenger, after 4-5 complaints one person came with black hit empty bottle, The same issue I have been witnessed last to last week. pic.twitter.com/mZrFDbiOZQ

— Laxminarayan Sharma (@__laxminarayan) August 5, 2023

DRM Indu Dubey told www.punekarnews.in, “The rake is maintained by Nanded Division and train originated from Panvel. We have reported this to the concerned Division maintaining the rake.”

Meanwhile the Divisional Railway Manager of Pune tweeted that the train departed from Pune Railway Station.

The train has departed from PUNE now.

— DRM Pune (@drmpune) August 5, 2023

PRO of Pune railway division said, “A message was received from Mr. Datta Gaikwad, the on-board ticket checking staff of Latur depot (who was manning the train), regarding numerous passenger complaints about cockroaches in coach B1. This information was promptly shared with the mechanical control at Pune, necessitating immediate action at Pune station.

The train arrived at Pune station at 19:15 Hrs (Scheduled Arrival at 19:25 Hr).

Upon arrival at Pune station, the Senior Section Engineer for Carriage & Wagon and the cleaning staff promptly attended to the coach, addressing the issue by applying insecticide spray (hit spray) for swift relief. However, some passengers did not agree with this approach, insisting on a replacement of the coach.

Despite the collective efforts of all railway staff, including Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and the Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) staff, to persuade passengers to allow the application of the insecticide spray as an immediate measure, the passengers expressed their dissent and concerns. A replacement of the coach was deemed unfeasible.

Following this, railway officers engaged in discussions with the passengers, providing reassurance that suitable measures would be taken en route to address the issue. A Senior Section Engineer and four staff members, including two cleaning staff, were assigned to accompany the train and implement pest control measures up to Kurduwadi station.
After persistent persuasion, the aggrieved passengers eventually consented to allow the Carriage & Wagon staff to conduct pest control measures, and the train resumed its journey at 20:42 hrs.

Nanded division of South Central Railway, responsible for the primary maintenance of this train, has been formally requested to take appropriate action against the concerned agency responsible for the deficiency, and to prevent the occurrence of such incidents in the future.

Furthermore, passengers are earnestly requested to cooperate with railway personnel, allowing them to adhere to standard procedures for addressing various issues. This collaborative effort aims to enhance service quality and maintain the punctuality of trains’.”