Mumbai: Commuter vaccinated in Dubai, BMC helpdesk not impressed

The scene at Andheri station on Wednesday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

What about those who got a Pfizer vaccination? A commuter from Dombivli came with a rather unique problem to Central Railway officials. She told them that she had been doubly vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine a month ago during her stay in Dubai and had a certificate that was internationally valid, but it was not valid on the suburban railway.

"It was a rare problem. We received all authentic documentation and papers about the commuter, who has now shifted base to Dombvli and would like to travel for work to CSMT. But, since there was no mention about it in the SoP, the local civic staff at the booth refused to acknowledge and hence she approached us," a senior official said.

"We took it up as a special case and alerted the relevant authorities about all such cases which were brought to our notice so that the state and civic authorities can include such instances in the SoP," he added.

"The normal scanner has this facility to avail the details of such foreign vaccines. The airport, too, has this facility. It is important to consider all these options," he said.

The Maharashtra government and civic SoP have as of now made it compulsory to have a Cowin certificate of double vaccination as proof.

Also read: Mumbai: Senior citizens make a beeline for local train passes

Covid-19 patients allege bias

A Covid-19 recovered patient is not allowed to take a vaccine immediately till a certain time period has elapsed and those taking Covishield have to wait a long time for the second dose. This rule denies them the right to travel on local trains for nearly four months. "So are we being punished because we were down with Covid? This is further harassment for us and is not fair," a commuter at Byculla station said. He had come to the station to inquire about the access to local trains for travelling to work.

Software glitch fixed

Working on the software overnight, the railways found a technical solution to the problem of advance ticketing as proposed by the Maharashtra government and commuters were issued tickets with date of journey mentioned as August 15. "We managed to tweak the software for the zone and could issue advance tickets. This will avoid a lot of complications. The advance booking for suburban service had temporarily been activated some years ago and it was brought back into effect," a senior official said. Commuters at Dombivli station confirmed the development. "I took a season ticket at about 10.30am. I was given the ticket with date of issuance as August 11 and date of journey as August 15," a commuter said. Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar confirmed the development. "The validity of the monthly season ticket issued will be from August 15 only," he said.

Host of practical problems

>>The civic process required people to come with hard copies of documents and also the downloaded vaccination certificate. "We require the hard copy to stamp and authenticate and the mobile app version to scan and verify it. That's because it becomes difficult to scan crumpled printouts or photocopies," a civic official said. At Dadar, commuter Yogendra Yadav was sent back as he had got his certificate downloaded on his phone. Yadav said he would return.

>>At CSMT, before the first shift ended, many civic officials' mobile phones' batteries died as they had been scanning documents since the morning. As the staff went to charge their phones, the queues got longer.

>>All those who even want to take a single journey will have to take a monthly pass, making commuters unhappy. Many criticised the government saying the exercise was useless. "The whole process is logically not beneficial to daily office commuters," commuter Nilesh Gaonkar said.

Citizens make beeline for passes

Gopal Bafna, Thane resident
‘I was one of the first ones to get through. The Thane Municipal Corporation stamped my certificate and I got a season ticket. For me, it was a smooth process'

Mukesh Thakkar, Thane resident
‘I'm a senior citizen. At least I will be able to travel by train now and avoid the road'

Shashikant Kamble, Bhandup resident who works at CST
‘I used to travel by bus and would spend hours in traffic. I am happy that now I will be able to travel by trains and save time'

Tejas Sampat
‘I work as a LIC agent in Kalbadevi and have to go to collect the premiums. Not everyone can access an online system. Why does the government ask us to wait for another week if we have already taken two doses?'

Gajendra Desai, who came with a test report
‘I work as a society manager at Masjid Bandar. I change two buses daily. I have taken the vaccines, I need a travel pass but they are not allowing me'

Vandana Vasavda
‘I used to travel to the office at Lower Parel before they imposed a ban on travelling. I don't need to go right now, but if the office asks me then I have to be ready'

Varsha Mehta
‘I worked as a kitchen assistant and would travel from Bhaindar to Borivli. I will not buy a pass now. There is a '52 difference if we take a tri-monthly pass, but they are issuing only a monthly pass'