Life came to a halt as people were asked to stay at home in order to shield themselves after the Covid-19 pandemic started. They could not even travel anywhere because the pause button had been pressed on all the modes of transportation. But now, after the arrival of the vaccines and as people have received them, the government has restarted the transport modes, including trains.
The people of Mumbai are once again looking to travel by the local trains. These people can now start the screening process at the railway stations.
They must present a hard copy of their immunisation certificate, as well as the original and a photocopy of their ID evidence, to the help desk at stations.
The vaccine certificate and a photocopy of the ID will be stamped once the the vaccination status has been verified by the support desk. Travelers will have to provide these when they purchase a monthly season ticket at the booking counter.
As of Monday, approximately 24 lakh MMR vaccine recipients were fully immunised, but fewer than 20 lakh had completed the 14-day vaccination period required for travel. Furthermore, many of them are healthcare and frontline employees who are already on the move.
The website, which is currently being built and linked to CoWin for verification, will take a few more days to complete.
Until August 31, all passengers accessing railway premises are expected to be inspected for necessary documents, after which police may turn to random checks.
State police and government railway police will conduct checks outside the station, while railway workers will conduct checks on the railway property.
An official said, “Travelers must carry all three documents while travelling: a monthly permit, a stamped vaccination certificate, and a photo ID copy.”
BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said, “This offline process of issuing monthly season passes will continue on all seven days of the week till further orders and therefore citizens need not rush to the railway stations.”
A senior official said, “The government is starting trains due to the hardships faced by the working class in reaching their workplace. The idea behind giving only monthly passes is to discourage people who want to undertake unnecessary travel.”
Another senior official added, “There will be a monthly review by the state regarding the number of cases reported since the start of the service and a periodic decision to continue with issuing of monthly passes again will be taken based on the Covid-19 situation.”
