Hasan Mahmud Rubel :
The railway passengers at Gandaria Railway Station in Dhaka city are deprived of minimum facilities due to negligence of the railway authority.
There are two waiting rooms and one washroom, which always remain under lock and key. As a result, passengers cannot use those. Incredibly, there is no water supply system in the station. The station has no boundary wall, making it free for the drug-addicts and vagabonds, threatening passengers’ security.
Sources said that passengers and freight trains stop
at this station thirty times a day. About three thousand passengers use Gandaria Station. More passengers want to travel, but poor conditions of the station discourage them. The nearby residents said that the number of train passengers will be increased if they are able to use the waiting and wash rooms.
Gandaria Station Master Mosharaf Hossain said, “Trains pass through the station at every 40 minutes. So, there is no need of a luxurious waiting room.
“The station will be modernized under the venture of reforming the Dhaka-Narayanganj line”, he said.
During a recent visit to the station, it was found that about 50 to 60 passengers are waiting for train on the platform and also on the rail line as the waiting rooms were closed. The passengers do not have water to drink or to take ablution, as there is no water supply system.
Jannatul Tajkia Moon, a regular female passenger, alleged with the tone of grievance there is not even least facility for the passengers, particularly, the female-passengers’ sufferings know no bounds for want of rest room.
“Drug-addicts and tramps are dominating the station and are indulging in snatching which is on the rise after sun-setting”, said a Battle-leaf seller Md. Faizullah.
In this regard, the station master said, “A team of police from Kadamtali Thana and Ansar members patrol the station to prevent criminal activities”.
But he admitted that due to lack of officials, they cannot provide facilities gracefully to the passengers. Out of 18 posts, six officials have been posted in the station.
The railway passengers at Gandaria Railway Station in Dhaka city are deprived of minimum facilities due to negligence of the railway authority.
There are two waiting rooms and one washroom, which always remain under lock and key. As a result, passengers cannot use those. Incredibly, there is no water supply system in the station. The station has no boundary wall, making it free for the drug-addicts and vagabonds, threatening passengers’ security.
Sources said that passengers and freight trains stop
at this station thirty times a day. About three thousand passengers use Gandaria Station. More passengers want to travel, but poor conditions of the station discourage them. The nearby residents said that the number of train passengers will be increased if they are able to use the waiting and wash rooms.
Gandaria Station Master Mosharaf Hossain said, “Trains pass through the station at every 40 minutes. So, there is no need of a luxurious waiting room.
“The station will be modernized under the venture of reforming the Dhaka-Narayanganj line”, he said.
During a recent visit to the station, it was found that about 50 to 60 passengers are waiting for train on the platform and also on the rail line as the waiting rooms were closed. The passengers do not have water to drink or to take ablution, as there is no water supply system.
Jannatul Tajkia Moon, a regular female passenger, alleged with the tone of grievance there is not even least facility for the passengers, particularly, the female-passengers’ sufferings know no bounds for want of rest room.
“Drug-addicts and tramps are dominating the station and are indulging in snatching which is on the rise after sun-setting”, said a Battle-leaf seller Md. Faizullah.
In this regard, the station master said, “A team of police from Kadamtali Thana and Ansar members patrol the station to prevent criminal activities”.
But he admitted that due to lack of officials, they cannot provide facilities gracefully to the passengers. Out of 18 posts, six officials have been posted in the station.
