Smoking commuters the bane of public transport

July 29, 2014 02:26 am | Updated 02:26 am IST

Recently, the Charminar Express from Chennai to Hyderabad was held up for over an hour after smoke was noticed emerging from one of the AC compartments. Fire and rescue teams rushed in, along with the railway police, to investigate.

They found that the smoke was caused by a lit cigarette that had been thrown in the dustbin.

Stray incidents like what happened on this train bring to light the problem of smoking in public transport — a regular, almost pan-India phenomenon, an official from the Transport Department says.

On trains, for instance, around 10 to 15 people are actually caught smoking every day, but there are many others who smoke away from the gaze of authorities. There are only so many railway police personnel that can be deployed on each train, an official says.

On MTC buses, till date, there has not been a single case of anyone being fined for smoking. “Very often, we catch people smoking on board the bus, especially if it is empty. But, we just ask them to get off the bus instead of fining them. We are allowed to fine passengers up to Rs. 500 for different offences,” an official from the MTC says.

On long-distance buses, many more people can be found smoking, especially on overnight journeys. Unless the passengers themselves are more sensitive, both to the health of their fellow travellers and the potential risks involved, it is very difficult to control smoking on public transport, the official adds.

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If you ever face trouble while travelling by a Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus late in the night, aid is at hand. The MTC’s helpline functions even at odd hours.

The numbers — 044-23455858, 9445030516 and 9383337639 — have been operational for the past couple of years. Earlier, passengers could lodge complaints only between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. Last year, it was upgraded to a 24-hour helpline.

Though many were sceptical of the proper functioning of the helpline, it seems to be working even at night. Recently, a passenger called the helpline after the conductor of a 17-M bus refused to halt at the scheduled bus stop in Five Lights near Kodambakkam.

The operator asked him to hand over the phone to the conductor. In a few minutes, the bus screeched to a halt at the stop. “I was surprised to note that the helpline was working. It will be very helpful for women who travel at night,” says A. Krishnan, the passenger.

The helpline usually receives complaints about the behaviour of conductors and drivers. “It is important for the complainant to provide the fleet number of the bus (It begins with MNI, TAI, ADI, followed by numbers). The next day, the driver or conductor will be summoned to the headquarters,” an MTC official explains.

And in case passengers find the helpline non-functional, there is another option. “They can lodge a complaint with the MTC headquarters,” the official adds.

(Reporting by Kavita Kishore and Vivek Narayanan)

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