Title - PASSENGERS’ ORDEAL Old batteries on Bharat Darshan train to be removed

Chandigarh:
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has started replacing the old batteries installed on the seven coaches of the Bharat Darshan special train. Many passengers had recently faced a lot of inconvenience due to power outages during their journey to Shirdi. The Chandigarh Tribune in its report, "Pilgrims feel harassed", carried in these columns on July 19 had highlighted inconvenience caused to the pilgrims due to power outages and unhygienic conditions.The Chief Regional Manager of the IRCTC, RK Sondh, said the team had commenced the work of replacing or repairing the old batteries in all the coaches of the Bharat Darshan train, which would proceed on a six-days tour of Udhayan the next day. Two more coaches have been added to the train to accommodate around 150 more passengers.He said two more officials had been deputed on the coaches to see to it passengers were not harassed in any way. In fact, the instructions have also been issued to the food contractor to ensure its quality. The authorities have also deployed staff to daily clean the washrooms on the coaches.During their six-day journey to Shirdi from July 13 to 18, the passengers had alleged that no coach of the train had electricity supply whenever the train halted at a destination. Besides, the washrooms in all the coaches were not cleaned and the food served to the pilgrims at Shirdi was not hot.