Thane: 15 commuters detained for trying to board local train parked at rail yard

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The railway police on Wednesday detained nearly 15 passengers when they tried to enter a local train parked at a rail yard in Maharashtra's Thane district, instead of boarding the train at the station, an official told news agency PTI.

Commuters were complaining since the last couple of days that some passengers boarded local trains at a yard near Ambernath railway station in Thane, leaving no room for others to get in when the train arrived at the station platform.

On Tuesday, some angry commuters also stopped a local train for sometime as a mark of protest, following which the railway police intervened and later allowed the train to move, a Government Railway Police (GRP) official told PTI.

The railway police also registered offences against those who had stopped the train, he said.

On Wednesday morning, when some commuters again tried to board a train at the yard, personnel of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) prevented them from doing so, leading to an argument.

Nearly 15 commuters were then detained, an RPF official from Badlapur said.

A video of the ruckus in the yard went viral on social media platforms.

An official at Ambernath railway station told PTI action was taken against the commuters as train boarding was not permitted at the yard.

In another incident, a 36-year-old woman was injured when a portion a single-storey chawl collapsed in Maharashtra's Thane city following heavy rains, authorities told PTI on Wednesday.

The incident took place at around 8 pm on Tuesday in Mahagiri Koliwada area, a release from the district collectorate said.

A portion of gallery of the 25-year-old chawl (tenement) collapsed and fell on the woman, it said.
Disaster management team personnel reached the spot after being alerted.

The woman was rushed to a hospital and undergoing treatment, the release said.

As a precautionary measure, the authorities sealed remaining portion of the gallery, which was in a precarious state, it said.

A report from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) said the city received 32.22 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday.

Since January this year, the city has recorded 306.38 mm downpour, compared to 180.56 mm in the same period last year.

The city has received 70 per cent more rainfall so far this year, compared to the same period last year, the TMC said.

(With inputs from PTI)