COVID-19

Central Railway

Passengers step over each other to get on a train at CSMT. (Photo by Deepak Turbhekar)

Passengers huddle inside a crowded train in CSMT on Friday (Photo by Deepak Turbhekar)

Maharashtra Rajya Rashtriya Kamgar Sangh

The crowded concourse at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on Friday; CR sold over 10,000 unreserved tickets on Friday

APMC market

As coronavirus cases increase, Mumbai city slows down in response to Chief Minister's call for social distancing 1 15 CSMT reflects a city of contrasts Even in this crisis that's triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, Mumbai is still a city of contrasts. On the one hand, roads are relatively empty, there are fewer people on the streets as compared to any normal day in the megapolis. In sharp contrast though, inside the long-distance train terminals, people are scrambling to get onto a train and leave the city. The partial lockdownthat's meant to encourage social distancing has pushed daily wage earners and migrants on the edge, unsure of how they will sustain themselves in the absence of work. Composite image of photos taken by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Crowds at non reserved ticketing window at Kurla station After seeing visuals of crowds of casual workers fleeing cities like Mumbai and crowding train stations and buses terminals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed via Twitter, urging people not to crowd these public places. He tweeted, "For those of you who live and work in big cities and are fleeing them due to fear of the coronavirus, it is not advisable to travel in large crowds. That could help spread this virus to your hometowns. It could endanger your families at home. It might also scare them. I appeal to all of you to stay put in the cities where you work for a few days. We are playing with our own lives by crowding our train stations and our bus stations. Please think about your families and if it is not essential, please do not travel and stay at home." Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL ICMR revises guidelines on testing As per the revised strategy, all symptomatic health care workers and all hospitalised patients with SARI- Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (fever and cough and/or shortness of breath) will have to test themselves. Asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of a confirmed case should be tested once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact. Direct and high-risk contact include those who live in the same household with a confirmed case and healthcare workers who examined a confirmed case without adequate protection as per WHO recommendations. Photo by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Health Minister visits CSMT Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope visited Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus on Saturday evening to take stock of the situation. In view of the Janata Curfew on Sunday, March 22, Central Railway has cancelled all its passenger trains from 4am. Photo by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Crowds at Kurla Station As four of Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s (MMR) main long-distance train stations – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Thane and Kalyan – brimmed with passengers, the Central Railway posted its men with thermometer guns to screen passengers for fever. However, till reports last came in on March 20, 2020, not a single passenger had been prevented from boarding a train. The Central Railway at the four stations mentioned above sold 10,000 unreserved tickets on Friday alone. “Due to the sudden surge, we plan to run 14 special trains on Friday and Saturday from Mumbai and Pune. Out of these 14, nine will be for UP, Bihar, West Bengal,” said CR chief PRO Shivaji Sutar. Photo by Raju Shelar/ BCCL Migrants Fleeing the city With shops, workplaces, offices, construction sites shut, many daily wage earners are making a beeline for the trains that will take them home. Many are not sure they will be able to survive in Mumbai in the absence of work. Many places where they work are shut due to the partial lockdown. Given the uncertainty around how much longer it could take for us to fight the coronavirus, many felt it was prudent to head home instead. Some experts have warned that at a time when governments are encouraging people to avoid mass gatherings, sights like these could be ticking time-bombs moving towards states that were so far relatively less affected by coronavirus. Photo by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Road outside CSMT station wears deserted look In sharp contrast to the crowds that packed the platform on Friday night, from the outside CSMT looks like a picture of calm. An almost surreal sight in a city like Mumbai where it's difficult not to bump into people on a normal day. But this is anything but normal as the city and state gears up for a period of partial lockdown till March 31. Though trains and buses will function as planned, non-essential shops and workplaces will stay shut. Photo by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Thermal scanner now a common sight From airports, malls, offices, shops, hospitals and even at railway stations, thermal scanners are the newest addition and have now become commonplace. Temperature checks are now also being conducted by housing societies before they allow visitors to enter the premises. Photo by Nilesh Wairkar/ BCCL Social distancing at the supermarket At this supermarket in Borivali, shoppers practiced social distancing, leaving some space between two shoppers as they waited to enter the supermarket to buy provisions. On Sunday, even though essential stores like kirana shops and medical stores will remain open, many are preparing to stay put at home to follow the Janata Curfew. PM Modi in his address to the nation on Thursday, had appealed to citizens to stay at home between 7am and 9pm on March 22 to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. Photo by Nilesh Wairkar/ BCCL Dadar Dhaba empty Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced that all non-essential offices and shops in the cities of Mumbai and Mumbai metropolitan region, Pune, PCMC and Nagpur will stay shut till March 31. At this Dadar eatery, there are no takers now and the worker uses the time to keep himself engaged in his phone. Photo by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Passengers at Mumbai's international airport India has announced that it will stop all international arrivals at its airports from March 22 till the end of the month. At Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport, passengers are seen wearing masks as they make their way to the security check points. Photo by Satyajit Desai/ BCCL Azad Maidan on Friday In regular office hours, it's tough to find even an inch of space on this stretch of Azad Maidan, between CSMT railway station and the exit onto Fashion Street. But on Friday, hardly any people were seen here. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Ambulance leaves Kasturba hospital Maharashtra has had the highest number of COVID 19 positive cases in the country for sometime now. On Friday, it also saw the highest single-day jump in number of positive cases. Kasturba hospital is the only government hospital so far where all patients with coronavirus are being treated. As many as five patients who had tested positive made a recovery and were sent home from Kasturba hospital on Friday. They will continue to be under observation and home quarantine for 2 weeks at least and will be monitored. As many as 10 private hospitals have now also prepared their own isolation wards to take in patients as the number of cases is on the rise. Jaslok Hospital, among them, started treating its first positive case today. Photo by Deepak Turbhekar/ BCCL Mangaldas market shut Mangaldas Market in Kalbadevi is the go-to place for anything and everything in textiles and clothing and is a very popular market. It's so crowded that's it's difficult to find place to walk even on the footpaths. It usually is shut on Sunday, but shops downed shutters on Friday itself in response to the appeals from the shopkeepers' association. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL Wash basin in Pratiksha Nagar building At Aarambh Co-operative Housing Society in Pratiksha Nagar, a new wash basin has been installed near the gate. Every person who enters the premises has to wash his/ her hands before proceeding to enter the building. Photo by Sachin Haralkar/ BCCL

An infectious diseases specialist said these trains are ticking bombs moving towards states that were, so far, relatively less affected byThousands began flocking to train stations on Friday to flee the city, ignoring all appeals for social distancing, avoiding large congregations and travelling only when absolutely necessary.As four of Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s (MMR) main long-distance train stations – Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Thane and Kalyan – brimmed with passengers, theposted its men with thermometer guns to screen passengers for fever. However, till reports last came in, not a single passenger had been prevented from boarding a train.Dr Om Shrivastva, an infectious diseases specialist, said people in such large numbers crowding railway stations goes against the aim of shutting down the city. “The whole idea of shutting down restaurants offices and malls was to reduce mass gatherings, but this is crazy.These trains are ticking bombs moving towards states that were, so far, relatively less affected by coronavirus,” he said.The four stations mentioned above connect the city to the country’s north and east.Similar scenes were witnessed at State Transport Department’s bus stations with casual labourers from the state’s hinterland rushing to board buses to get home. Pune station, another city to go into a lockdown from Saturday, also witnessed large crowds.The Central Railway at the four stations mentioned above sold 10,000 unreserved tickets on Friday alone. “Due to the sudden surge, we plan to run 14 special trains on Friday and Saturday from Mumbai and Pune. Out of these 14, nine will be for UP, Bihar, West Bengal,” said CR chief PRO Shivaji Sutar.Almost all leaving the city on these trains were daily wage workers who had lost work because of the coronavirus scare and the resultant lockdown. Rakesh Yadav, 34, a native of Madhubani in Bihar said: “I and my younger brother were working at a construction site at Koperkhairane in Navi Mumbai. Work at the site has stopped for the past four days. Contractor said he will take time to restart the work. That is why we decided to go back home.”Ram Sagar Mistri, 32, a native of Danapur in Bihar, said people like him depend on daily wages. “Once we stop getting work, it’s not possible for us to survive more than a week in Mumbai,” he said.Taxi drivers and private chauffeurs are also leaving the city in droves. With people working from home and almost the entire city now shut, there has been a drastic drop in business. Sunil Borkar, union leader,, said nearly 50 to 55 per cent of 50,000 drivers employed with app-based platforms have left the city.According to an estimate, nearly 16,000 of the 32,000 kali-peeli taxis are off the roads. Mumbai Auto Rickshawmen’s Union chief Shashank Rao said close to 90,000 autos of the 2.20 lakh in the city have gone off road.Another section of casual labourers leaving the city are mathadi workers (loaders) at the. According to Mathadi leader Narendra Patil, about 50 per cent of the workers have left the city in the last couple of days. “The government wants to keep the market open but there are no provisions made for the workers’ safety. There are no masks available and no screening being carried out.” Patil said.A large number of Mathadi workers hail from Pune and Satara districts of western Maharashtra. On Friday, after the CM’s lock down announcement, bus stands in Pune and Mumbai were flooded with people rushing back to their villages.Congress MLA Amin Patel, who represents Mumbadevi in the state assembly, said there is no work for daily wagers. “Now even roadside food joints, where they would have their meals, have shut down. They have no option but to return home,” he said.