Title - Examinees spill over Lucknow roads, make weekend chaotic

LUCKNOW: Despite it being a weekend, commuters in Lucknow had a tough time moving around in the city for a better part of the day on Sunday, as thousands of candidates appearing for the Group D Examination of North Central Railway and the All India Pre Medical Test ( AIPMT) (mains) swarmed the city roads since morning. The chaos continued till late on Sunday evening.Though the district administration had made elaborate security arrangements around the 79 centres, the focus of crowd management was confined to Charbagh railway station, where an additional company of Provincial Arms Constabulary was deployed along with the Government Railway Police, Railway Protection Force and their respective reserve contingents as well. The railway department too had deployed more than 2,500 employees and 125 officers to ensure that the exams are held smoothly.The Charbagh railway station and the Kaiserbagh and Alambagh bus terminals remained the worst hit throughout the day as most of the candidates had arrived on trains and buses since Saturday evening itself. The morning chaos ended by 9.30 am which marked the start of the first shift of examination. However, once the second shift of the examination got over at 4:30 pm, the crowd spilled over on the city roads till late in the evening.

Passengers at the railway station and bus terminals had a harrowing time while reaching the station. Boarding the reserved compartments remained a bigger challenge as most of the coaches of almost all passenger trains were virtually occupied by the youngsters who were on their way back home after appearing for the examination.

"First it took me more than half an hour to reach my reserved seat and put my luggage there. Then escorting my wife and children to the seats came as a bigger challenge. The worst came when the mob vacated only a single seat for my wife and two children what to talk of my finding a place for myself to sit," said Narendra Jha, a native of Ranchi who was on his way home after visiting his relatives in Rajajipuram area of the city.