Yelahanka Railway Station a Nightmare for the Elderly

With no lifts, wheelchairs or carts, they are forced to take the skywalk or use hazardous passages
Yelahanka Railway Station a Nightmare for the Elderly

YELAHANKA: The railway station here is lacking in basic passenger amenities such as toilets and drinking water. Elderly and physically challenged passengers find it difficult to cross from one platform to another. And the platforms are not connected to the parking lot.

Yelahanka gets 45 trains every day. With thousands of commuters taking local and inter-state trains, the absence of basic amenities is conspicuous.  

Shiva Bai Malwari (99) has to take the skywalk every time she comes visiting to Bangalore. Her grandson Sheetal Kumar N  told Express, “There is nothing to help her except my hand.”K Rajeshwari (63) from Guntur gets stuck at the end of the platform. She has to walk through the tracks, along rocks and a filthy passage, to the parking lot. “I am scared every time I visit Bangalore,” she said.

Lakshmi Bai (72) sits on the pavement until her grandson Jagdish Kumar gets the car around. “They should have something like a battery-operated cart for elderly people,” he said.Passengers’ woes don’t end here. Toilets are dirty and don’t have water. The waiting room is locked most of the time. The station also lacks clean drinking water, shops and eateries.Passengers arriving early in the morning, even women, have no choice but to defecate in the open. The police station nearby is assailed by the stench.

The announcement of train arrivals is also poor and confuses passengers. Sania Khan, who hails from Bihar, said, “My bag is heavy and I find it difficult to get any coolies. And there are no sign boards here.”

Ravishankar from Kozhikode is worried about his mother’s safety. “She can’t walk properly, and I am scared she will slip any moment on the stairs,” he said.

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The New Indian Express
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