RailEnquiry

ALLAHABAD: Forty-eight hours after the horrific incident at Allahabad Junction, exodus of pilgrims who had come for MauniAmavasyasnan continued on Tuesday. Most of the victims either boarded buses or trains for their destinations.Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation on Tuesday plied around 4,000 buses on different routes for Kumbh devotees.Regional manager, UPSRTC, PR Balwaria told TOI: "On Sunday and Monday, UPSRTC plied 6,000 buses each day to clear the rush of devotees". He added that buses have been made available at Civil Lines and other temporary bus stations so that passengers do not face any hardship in reaching their destinations.Railways, too, is running additional trains to clear the rush. NCR public relation officer Amit Malviya said apart from regular trains, 58 Mela special trains plied on Monday to clear the rush. Allahabad Junction, meanwhile, still remained crowded on Tuesday.But still these arrangements proved inadequate to clear the huge rush of devotees. "I kept waiting for public transport as it was not easy to get a seat in bus due to overcrowding at Civil Lines bus stand," said Mudit , a native of Moradabad. He added, "I along with my family had to pass time on the footbath as there were no rooms to stay."Sushmit, who had come from Punjab and waited for more than 28 hours to board a return train, said authorities should make additional arrangements for pilgrims coming from far flung states.

"Once the Mauni Amavasya snan was over, devotees started returning to their respective destinations by whatever available medium of transportation like trains, buses, private taxis and even tempos," said an official preferring anonymity. He added, "But as these arrangements were not enough, pilgrims who failed to find any mode of transport remained standard on roads." Due to rush of devotees, roads in the city saw jams even on Tuesday.