Mumbai: Railway commuters launch ‘wear white’ protest

Commuters register their protest at Thane railway station on Thursday

There was a mixed response to the protest by commuter organisations over demands, including increase of railway services, on Thursday. Given the Badlapur rail roko, there were no large-scale agitations, even as some commuters voluntarily donned white clothes and black armbands.

Members of commuter organisations beyond Thane on Central Railway (CR) gathered outside railway stations on Thursday morning with banners, placards distributing black ribbons to travelling commuters to protest over various demands, including decongestion, giving priority to local trains and setting up of a suburban railway transport body.

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Central Railway commuters show off their black ribbons on a train

The Railways had deployed police and RPF officers in full force to avoid any untoward incident and protesters were asked to gather outside railway station premises. The protest was mainly centred at stations beyond Thane on CR and a handful of stations on Western Railway. The ‘Wear Your White' protest had been called in by 10 commuter organisations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and began at Kalyan, Thane, Asangaon, and other stations.

There were claims by organisations that more than 25,000 black ribbons were tied. Pictures were also doing the rounds of CR commuters wearing ribbons on trains. On Western Railway, a handful of passenger association members and commuters wore white with black bands but expressed solidarity with the protestors.

Protesting commuters near Asangaon railway station

Siddhesh Desai, secretary of Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh said the movement will go on till the situation changes on the ground. "We distributed black ribbons at Asangaon, Kalyan and other stations. This is a movement, and it will go on until things change," said Desai. "We're standing up for better services and safer conditions," Prathamesh Prabhutendolkar, joint secretary of the Dahanu Vaitarna Pravasi Sevabhavi Sanstha, said.

A marathon three-hour meeting between the passenger associations and the divisional railway manager of Central Railway Mumbai last week failed to reach any consensus, with the Railways only giving a positive response to the demand for new suburban stations, Guravali and Parsik. Association leaders have already been slapped with legal notices and warned against creating any disruption of rail services on August 22 during the protest.

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No of groups that called protest