Chaos at Kamalapur as BR helpless with swelling crowd

Eid-ul-Azha holidaymakers at Kamalaupur Railway Station have faced bedlam and harassment alongside a schedule disaster a day before the celebration.
The passengers blamed the irresponsibility and indifference on the part of the authorities for the chaos on Thursday.
People began gathering at the station early in the morning, hoping to take a train home.
But, they complained, no train left on time in the morning, leading to a cascading schedule disruption.
By 10am, the platforms turned into a sea of people, as those holding ordinary tickets and others without any at all began streaming in.
Many, who had booked their seats in advance, could not board the trains, as crowds choked the coach entrances.
Yasmin Ahmed, in her fifties, had waited for the 6:20am Sundarban Express but failed to get on when it arrived at 10am.
When she and her children, who are university students, approached a RAB camp to complain, they told to contact the station manager.
“Now, our going to Khulna has become uncertain,” a frustrated Yasmin told bdnews24.com.
Several passengers of the Rajshahi-bound Dhumketu Express met the station manager with similar complaints.
But he had no solution to offer, as the train had already left.
Bangladesh Railway Additional Director General Khalilur Rahman expressed helplessness in coping with a swelling crowd.
“We cannot stop them. If we do, they will create a scene,” he said.
The passengers alleged law-enforcing agency personnel such as those of the GRP, RNB, Ansar, police, and RAB were conspicuous by their absence.
The camp set up for them lay empty.
Railway Nirapotta Bahini (RNB) DG Aminul Islam admitted the chaos, but denied the absence of the members of his force at the station.
“You missed them somehow,” he told bdnews24.com.
He refused to say, when asked, how many of his personnel were there at the station. Instead, he referred the reporter to Mazibur Rahman, the man in charge.
But, Rahman, too, declined an answer.—bdnews24.com
Ends/AR/Sept 24 2015