The ambient sounds and visual experience of Secunderabad railway station were in perfect sync on Saturday, a day after it witnessed large-scale violence and arson by army aspirants in reaction to the Centre’s Agnipath scheme.
Although the main entrance showed buses of CRPF and RAF parked on one side and the security personnel in military fatigues assembled under a tree, it was the passenger entrances and lobbies which reassured one that the station was back to business. The enquiry counters and help desks remained busy.
Hundreds of passengers dragging luggage, sitting on their bags or just lying down, having lunch or napping on platform no. 1, offered just the right space to walk and slither through.
Platform no. 1 didn’t offer a clue of the previous day’s mayhem to passengers until one walked to the extreme sides — the Kazipet-end or the east side, where gunnies of dry fish and hundreds of eggs were destroyed, and still continue to overpower one’s senses. On the Hyderabad-end or west side, there were around eight charred motorcycles near the parcel counter.
CCTV cameras and fixtures destroyed by protesters were being rearranged by workers with the help of ladders, and supervisors were also overseeing installation of new ceiling fans.
A train on platform no. 1, in fact, was a curtain to the destruction that unfolded on platform nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5.
On Saturday, officials were moving the battered East Coast Express from platform no. 2 to the maintenance line, and workers were engaged in removing the debris and jet-washing the platforms.
Food stall vendors continued business without glass and granite tops that safekeep their products and cashboxes. And officers of the Railway Special Protection Force marched the platforms in pairs, reassuring passengers of safety.
According to Railway officials, all trains running through and originating from Secunderabad junction railway station were on schedule, except a couple of trains due to rake damage.
Just when Sabari Express started departing the platform at around 12.20 p.m., scenes of kids waving and bidding farewell to elders were many, even as the train announcer continued with ‘kripya dhyan de’ alerts.
