RailEnquiry

Such is the rush of people from the north-eastern states desperate to return home that the railway authorities have added four coaches to the Gandhidham–Kamakyha Express train. This Guwahati-bound train leaves Ahmedabad at 9:30 pm every night.Sources in the western railways said that the waiting list of 15 for this train had shot up to 352 in a few hours. It was this which had forced the authorities to increase the number of coaches.Western railway spokesperson Jeetendra Kumar Jayant said that two coaches – a general compartment and a sleeper — had been added to the train for its entire journey while three coaches would be added at Ahmedabad. This had become necessary to handle the unprecedented situation arising out of people from the north-eastern states returning home, Jayant said.A majority of those leaving are working class people employed at food outlets, and not those working in offices or in executive positions.The railway authorities also expect a rush for seats in even those trains which are not going to Guwahati but are, nevertheless, headed east. Some such trains are the Howrah Express (which leaves from Ahmedabad railway station daily); Porbandar-Howrah; Muzaffarpur Express; and Jansadharan Express. The demand for seats in Azimabad Express which runs between Ahmedabad and Patna twice a week is also expected to increase.The desperation to leave Gujarat is seen mainly among youths from the north-east who work in hotels, restaurants and other food outlets but not among people working in offices or at executive posts.Gaurav Barua, president, Assam Youth Wing, told DNA that there is no panic among the Assamese living in Gujarat. The rush to leave is mainly among people in the lower-income groups, he said.Dashrath Prasad, a youth from a north-eastern state who works in a food outlet at Law Garden Food Bazaar, said that most of his colleagues had left Gujarat because of the rumours circulating about events in Karnataka.“We are concerned about our security and our families back at home are worried. They want us to return and stay put until the situation returns to normal,” Prasad said.He also said that it was mostly people from Nagaland and Mizoram who are leaving. They are afraid of a communal backlash against the clashes between Muslims and Bodo tribals that have been taking place in Assam, Prasad said.