Railway System Response
Network rerouting is the main concern at this point, but the potential for appropriate responses is limited. To rerout a train one has to either contact a travel agent (who, because of his cut, is not an option for many) or go to the nearest train station where there are usually 5 or so counters open for a railway official to get what you need done.
The counters each have a PC connected to some software platform, but the technology is past its prime and approximately a third of each operation requires pen and pad (there are no calculators, and forms must be filled out in duplicate).
Train stations are filling up beyond capacity as trains are stopped, canceled or rerouted and people are abandoned.
Those stuck in the middle of nowhere are reported no power, no food, and no water, though RSS (Hindu nationalists) are en route with aid – the problem is that the group has a tendency to become violent. In the mean time, local entrepreneurs are swarming on stopped trains with inflated but necessary goods – water, food, taxis.
In addition, the Gujjar/Meena conflict has set up a system where any pertubation would have major returns – something that has not gone unnoticed.
I will continue to report on developments, but won’t actually be in the area until around the 20’th (flight networks are rapidly reaching capacity).
-Shlok
Sign up for my newsletter.