Title - 12,000 fight for space on 4 trains

The desperation to get out of the city was evident on Thursday as platform number 4 of the Bangalore City railway station witnessed a huge rush of 12,000 people trying to catch a place on the special trains leaving for the northeast.Januki Aale, a homemaker from HSR Layout, was frantically searching for milk for her 11-month-old baby and her pleas fell on deaf ears as people were busy getting on to the train.Although eatables were available on the platform, there was no space to move as the whole place was jam-packed.Chethan Dahal, a 22-year-old waiter, was almost in tears as he was unable to join two of his brothers who had somehow sneaked into a coach.His request to open the door went unheard. There were at least 200 people crammed into each compartment as against the capacity of 80. “Please help me get in,” he pleaded with the police personnel.The helpless police, outnumbered by the people, maintained utmost restraint while trying to calm them.Security was not a concern. “I am not worried at this point. My aim is to reach my place as early as possible,” Aale said.Her brother Ganesh Aale, a salesman working in Whitefield, left even as his boss refused to grant leave. “My parents are more worried than us. They want us to come back. Our safety is more important than what we earn,” he said.An Infosys employee, who had booked his ticket two months in advance for a vacation, decided not to enter the coach seeing the crowd.