Mumbai: 450 kits for Covid-19 tests of 20,000 passengers arriving at LTT

Even as restrictions continue amid what looks like an abating second Covid19 wave in the city thousands of passengers arriving at LTT have been leaving the premises without the statemandated screening or testing While the BMC team at the station used to get 14002000 rapid antigen test kits earlier it now gets only 450500 In addition not all passengers are screened and of those asked to wait for the process many escape via the numerous exits at the station On a visit to LTT on Wednesday at 230 pm midday saw the Coimbatore Express arrive with hundreds of passengers from Karnataka where Covid19 cases have been rising alarminglyAround 1618 trains arrive at LTT every dayDuring a visit to LTT on Wednesday around 230 pm midday saw the Coimbatore Express arrive with hundreds of passengers from Karnataka where Covid19 cases have been rising alarmingly However the BMC team from L ward their volunteers and a doctor did not check the passengers Dr Rishi Raj associated with the L ward said ldquoWe have been given a list of trains whose passengers need to be checked The Coimbatore Express is not on the list The BMC team with around 12 volunteers and lab officials scans 1618 trains arriving from states like Delhi Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Uttrakhand Goa West Bengal etcrdquoBMCrsquos latest circular from May 24 states ldquoAll restrictions that have been made applicable to persons arriving from places of lsquoSensitive Originsrsquo will be applicable to anyone arriving from any part of the country into tho staterdquoAlso Read Covid19 Mumbai sees 1266 new cases 36 deathsPassengers evade screeningMany passengers who travelled via the Coimbatore Express did not have an RTPCR report ldquoI was carrying a report but I lost my bag during the journeyrdquo said a passenger who refused to identify himselfAnother passenger said ldquoI consulted my doctor before coming to the city We all are fine so we donrsquot have any report Nobody asked for the samerdquo This passenger too refused to identify himselfThe BMC team from L ward at LTT on Wednesday PicSayyed Sameer AbediMinutes later a train arrived from Uttar Pradesh and the BMC team geared up and asked passengers to stand in a queue Some of them had their temperatures checked and were stamped for home quarantine However midday saw most of the arriving passengers escape without screening or antigen tests One of the passengers leaving argued that when social distancing is not followed why should he have to waitSome passengers argued with the civic volunteers and didnrsquot wait for screening The station had only twothree cops managing the crowd ldquoAround 12001400 passengers are arriving in one train since the first week of May The crowd speaks rudely with our volunteers and they donrsquot cooperate with us While we deal with one many people leave without screening Sometimes the crowd is too huge for us to manage We need more police personnel to ensure everyone is screenedrdquo said Dr Raj ldquoPassengers who have a high temperature are asked to get rapid antigen tests done My focus remains more on senior citizens and kids But the crowds are too huge to managerdquo Dr Raj saidlsquoAsked railway cops for staffrsquoldquoItrsquos the responsibility of railway police to manage the crowd but they have not been cooperating We have written to our superiors They acknowledged our problems and wrote to the railway police at LTT to provide adequate personnelrdquo said Dr Jeetendra Jadhav Medical Officer L ward BMC Dr Jadhav did not specify if the letter was written to the Railway Protection Force RPF or the Government Railway Police GRPAt Bandra terminus with only one entry and exit therersquos no scope for passengers to leave without screening PicPradeep DhivarAround 1500020000 people arrive at LTT every day and yet the antigen test kits available with the team are very few ldquoInitially during the peak we were getting around 14002000 rapid antigen test kits per day But for the past few weeks it has reduced to 450500 So test those who are asymptomaticrdquo said an official from L ward present at LTTlsquoOur testing is highestrsquoDr Jadhav however claimed that this is wrong and that the ward conducting the highest number of tests ldquoOn Wednesday itself we did more than 2900 tests and since March 23 more than 17 lakh rapid antigen tests have been done Nowhere else has that number been matchedrdquo Dr Jadhav saidWhat about other terminimidday also visited Bandra terminus where 1518 trains arrive every day Here things were better managed by railway police and the H West ward Not a single passenger appeared to be leaving the premises without getting screened or tested ldquoAround 200300 passengers arrive on each train Many come with RTPCR reports they arenrsquot tested There is only one entry and exit and nobody can leave without proper screeningrdquo said Swapnil Parab ward assistant H wardAt Dadar the situation is similar though the number of trains arriving are lesser at six to seven daily Shift incharge Niranjan Govalakar of BMCrsquos G North ward said that they are working in three shifts ldquoThere is an incharge for every shift He is accompanied by five to six BMC employees three lab technicians and five to six BMC security guards Around 7080 rapid antigen tests are being done every dayrdquoInputs from Vishal Singh12No of people in the BMC team at the station03No of police personnel present at LTT during middayrsquos visit