Railway Junction entrance is sojourn to many
The spacious main entrance to Tiruchi Railway Junction has always been a sight to behold.
The
junction got a facelift recently and the additional entry point, likely
to be opened shortly, is expected to provide added attraction to the
premises.
The spacious and well laid-out circulating
area at the main entrance to the junction and the hall housing the
current ticket booking counters have turned out to be the resting spot
for a large number of people at night. Any visitor to the junction after
10 p.m. will be surprised to see people occupying every inch of the
space – right from the Passenger Reservation Systems (PRS) centre to VIP
entrance.
Many commuters from the neighbouring
districts and villages surrounding the city, who make it a point to
reach the junction in advance to catch overnight long-distance trains,
and those on the transit journey, take advantage of the spacious ground,
to take rest till the arrival of their trains. But it is the daily wage
earners, employed in construction works in the city, hailing from other
parts of the State, who form the majority , says M. Murugan, a worker
of a roadside eatery near the junction.
These
destitute, after a hard day’s work, finish their dinner in the night
stalls near the junction and central bus stand and settle down in the
circulating area. These workers will vanish from the scene before the
break of dawn, Murugan says.
These people sleep in the open braving even the biting cold during the winter, he adds.
A
section of commuters expresses concern at people sleeping on pavements
and footpaths, even as the government makes tall claim about the overall
development achieved by the country in different fields.
Even the Supreme Court in its recent judgment directed the States to
comply with its order to provide roofs to the homeless facing threat to
their lives while sleeping in the open.
It is a
common sight to see homeless people, beggars, rickshaw pullers sleeping
on streets, empty bus shelters, flyovers, under the bridges, parks, and
pavements across the city, says T. K. S. Senthil Kumar, founder,
Anbalayam, a city-based voluntary organisation which runs a
government-approved psychiatric rehabilitation home for the mentally ill
in the city. The government must gear up ‘to preserve and protect’ the
lives of these people, and should come forward to set up more night
shelters at prominent locations in the city for the benefit of these
hapless people, he suggests.
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