Surat Railway Station Sees Frantic Rush As Migrant Workers Head Home For Diwali, Chhath Puja

Surat railway stations witnessed an overwhelming crowd as hundreds of workers from textile and diamond industries headed home for Diwali and Chhath puja.

Surat, Oct 27 (PTI) An unusually heavy rush was witnessed at Udhna railway station in Surat on Sunday as hundreds of workers engaged in textile and diamond industries headed to their hometowns in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh for Diwali and Chhath puja.

The frenzied scene in Surat somewhat mirrored the dangerous passenger surge at Mumbai’s Bandra railway station, where a stampede left 10 persons injured.

The railway authorities have made arrangements by adding special trains for UP and Bihar, with a new train added for Gorakhpur in UP from Udhna on Sunday, officials said.

Trains for Bihar and UP have been divided for departure from three railway stations in the city – Surat, Udhna and Bhestan – to ensure smooth operation in view of the massive rush being witnessed these days, an official said.

The Government Railway Police have been deployed on platforms to control the crowd as people are turning up in large numbers to board the trains for their destinations, he said.

As many as 30 trains for UP and Bihar are departing from Surat railway station, 18 from Udhna and seven from Bhestan, they said. Many of these trains are weekly, and some departing twice, thrice and even five times a week, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the Western Railway said in a press release that it was taking measures to clear the extra rush of passengers during this season by adding additional festival special trains. One of them between Udhna and Gorakhpur was added from Sunday.

Many workers engaged in the diamond and textile industries in Surat travel to their hometowns in Bihar and UP for Chhath puja and Diwali.

In the early hours of Sunday, at least ten persons were injured in a stampede at Mumbai's Bandra railway station when hundreds of people attempted to board a Gorakhpur-bound train pulling into a platform to head to their hometowns for Diwali and Chhath festivals, civic officials said. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)