BANGALORE: The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which has a strict list of dos and dont’s at its Reach 1 stations, has been incapable of monitoring any kind of communicable diseases.
During its time of inauguration, the BMRCL had said that any person coughing or sneezing at the station will not be allowed to board the train, as these may be symptoms of communicable diseases. The Metro was condemned by the public for imposing such restrictions.
However, even after over two weeks since doctors in the city detected cases of H1N1 and Cholera, BMRCL officials said that they had no idea about the increase in these diseases.
“We have no clue about this. We have not looked into any safety precautions yet,” said the station manager.
Further, when Express checked at all the six stations, officials did not have clue about the spread of any diseases.
“We do not know about H1N1. We have not been asked to stop anyone, whether they are sick or healthy. We just look for cigarettes, lighters, metal objects and knives and take them away if travellers are carrying them,” said an official at Byappanahalli Station.
Coughing or sneezing loudly at the stations, did not gather any eye balls and even fainting did not ruffle any feathers. When checked, the medicine box at two stations too was found empty and officials told Express that they would be getting some medicines soon.
In a scenario when the common man is taking precautionary measures and diseases like H1N1 are increasing, the Metro, which had created a lot of noise about medical issues of passengers even before its Reach 1 launch, has failed to take preventive measure for the safety of its travellers.