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General public cannot travel in Mumbai Local Trains: CM Uddhav Thackeray

The decision was announced keeping the predicted third COVID-19 wave in mind. CM has asked the offices to consider rescheduling the working hours to help their employees.

General public cannot travel in Mumbai Local Trains: CM Uddhav Thackeray
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Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the city of Mumbai have reduced significantly and the government has eased restrictions considering the drop in cases. However, the Mumbai local trains are still operating only for the employees from the essential services. Despite several demands, the government had not allowed the general public to use the Mumbai local trains for their daily commute.

Over the last few days, citizens and members from the opposition parties asked the government to consider permitting fully vaccinated citizens to travel by the local trains. Discussions regarding the same were held at the cabinet meetings recently, however, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday, August 2, 2021, informed that the permission will not be given to the general public yet. The decision was taken considering the predicted third COVID-19 wave. Report regarding the same was published in the Free Press Journal.

Keeping the public demands in mind, the Bombay High Court also asked the government to prepare a comprehensive plan for the same. Questions were raised by the division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish Kulkarni asking for reasons why fully vaccinated citizens cannot commute on the Mumbai local trains. While hearing a PIL, the bench said that while the public is allowed to travel on the buses, why not on the trains,as there was no point of being vaccinated and not being allowed to commute. 

Also Read: BJP members protest demanding fully vaccinated people to be allowed in local trains

CM shared the decision while addressing the media at the  press conference held in Sangli. He asked the officials to revise the office timings for the staff members considering the commute-related issues in mind. 

A few months back, the railways reported that the commuters on the local trains have increased over time, and the number of passengers travelling without tickets or with fake IDs were also noted. Strict actions were taken against the passengers flouting the rules. In order to implement stricter rules, the government also planned the Universal Travel Pass, where employees from essential services will be allowed to enter the stations only after presenting the QR code-based pass. Officials from the railways informed that this move will help in reducing such cases. 

Also Read: Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh Files PIL To Let Journalists Travel By Local Trains

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