Disabled athletes battle stinking toilet in train compartment
"There was no choice at that point of time. If we were to leave that train then we wouldn't have made it to the games," says Yogesh Ghatbandhe, a disabled athlete taking part in the Para Athletics Open Championship.
Eleven disabled athletes had the nightmare of their life when they had to endure a 17-hour long journey from Gondia district in Maharashtra to Mumbai in the Vidarbha Express on the night of March 27. The train's disabled compartment was overcrowded and had a stinking toilet with water under the seats.
The athletes alleged that nobody from the railways came to their aid throughout the night. "There was no choice at that point of time. If we were to leave that train then we wouldn't have made it to the games," says Yogesh Ghatbandhe, a disabled athlete taking part in the Para Athletics Open Championship.
The athlete said that the condition kept deteriorating and they felt helpless with the presence of females in the compartment. "It was a nightmare for all of us. Our female colleagues couldn't use the toilet and we were helpless. No railway official came to our help to see what conditions we were in," says Yogesh.
The Vidarbha Express reached it's destination, Dadar, at 7:15 AM and the athletes left for Dadar thereafter.
A similar incident had occurred at the Paralympics meet held in the Ghaziabad games village in March.
Yogesh and his fellow colleagues plan to meet the Railway Minister in person and complain about the state of affairs. Commenting on the issue, an Indian Railways spokesperson said, "It is an unfortunate incident. We are sensitive to the needs of all kinds of passengers. Some time passengers fiddle with tap fittings leading to such problems. It would have been better if the matter was brought to the notice of station staff as some mechanical staff would have attended it. Recently a portal has been launched for public grievance. We are investigating the matter and no such incident will occur again."