Ground Report: New Delhi Railway Station on Day 1 of ‘Unlock 1’
Circles have been drawn on the station to help maintain distance where people have also placed their baggage.
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Video Editor: Rahul Sanpui
Day 1 of the fifth phase of the lockdown, also known as 'Unlock 1' began on Monday, 1 June. With this the resumption of 200 passenger trains from New Delhi Railway Station has also begun.
The Quint's Asmita Nandy embarked on a journey from New Delhi to Agra to assess the situation and preparedness at the railway station as well as in the trains.
Having covered their faces with a mask and face shield, and wearing gloves, The Quint's reporter and video producer Athar Rather underwent thermal screening at the station. While their bags also went through security check they were not sanitized.
They had also installed the Aarogya Setu App as mandated by the railways but weren't checked for the app at the station.
Many passengers can be seen waiting for their trains, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Circles have been drawn on the station to help maintain distance between individuals. Some of these circles, however, were occupied by bags and not people.
"I have been stuck in Delhi since four months, so now I am getting a chance to go back to Darjeeling," one of the passengers on the station, Yogesh told The Quint.
Some shops were also open on platform number four. Most of them stated that they have been in operation since 12 May.
At the station were also some migrant workers who stated that there are no Shramik trains from Delhi to Bihar, and were waiting to get information about the same.
The passenger trains are back on track after more than two months since the nationwide lockdown was announced on 24 March. Since March, there have been countless reports of people struggling to make it back home.
This has also come at a time when India’s total cases have seen a steep rise with the total over 1.9 lakh cases, including 93,322 ones.
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