Coolies fleece people as Borivli station escalators ’malfunction’ at rush hours

Authorities rubbish allegations, say decoy checks are being conducted to ensure such incidents don't happen

Coolies fleece people as Borivli station escalators 'malfunction' at rush hours

The escalators stop working whenever an express train arrives at the platform, mainly during the evening hours

If we go by Saurashtra Passengers' Association secretary Nitin H Vora's experience, then it appears that the coolies at the Borivli station are having a free run in cheating passengers, especially during the evening hours when the escalators suddenly start malfunctioning.

Vora said that he had experienced it twice — once in July and again on August 3. However, railway authorities are of the opinion that since they received a complaint few months back, officials in plain clothes have been conducting decoy checks at the station.

Speaking to mid-day, Vora said this mostly happens in the evening hours when express trains arrive at the platforms. "On August 3, when I went to the station with my mother, none of the escalators were working.

Suddenly some coolies surrounded her and started quoting high rates for carrying our luggage. They asked for a minimum of Rs 250, which is usually around Rs 40-50. However, instead of taking their help, we climbed up the escalator with the luggage. After some time, when the crowd dispersed, the escalators started working again."

He further said, "I observed the same thing a few days later and some regulars at the station told me that the escalators usually started malfunctioning whenever there was a crowd." He also said that he had registered complaints with the divisional railway officials and general manager at Churchgate. Meanwhile, Western Railway Chief PRO, Ravinder Bhakar, rubbished the allegations and said, "We are conducting decoy checks at stations to avoid such instances."

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