Mandatory COVID test: Queues at stations, open season on roads on Day 1

Arriving travellers all over the city on Wednesday were a bewildered and confused lot with hardly any of them aware of the new protocols for testing With the state having made testing of symptomatic patients from DelhiNCR Rajasthan Gujarat and Goa mandatory civic officials and railway staff were a busy lot sometimes dealing with passengers unhappy with the testing and refusing to pay while road transport faced no such restrictions As midday fanned out all over the city it witnessed a few hiccups and some anxiety mostly among bus operators worried about business amid a dwindling number of passengersPassengers get screened at Borivli railway stationOn Day 1 of testing passengers from highrisk states while not many tested positive preventing overcrowding and managing arriving tired passengers will continue to remain a task for authorities On the other hand bus tour operators say they are willing to enforce stricter rules Read on to know how the city fared in the latest phase of the COVID19 pandemicBandra terminus witnessed a huge crowd of passengers waiting to be tested as two express trains arrived within 10 minutes of each other on Wednesday PicsShadab Khan Satej Shinde and Rajendra B AklekarBandra TerminusA health worker checks the temperature of a family at Bandra Terminus on Wednesday PicShadab KhanAround five trains arrived at Bandra Terminus from Punjab Rajasthan Gujarat and New Delhi Civic medical staff had set up their counters near the exit While the first set arrived around 430 am the last arrived at 415 pm a railway official said Over 3000 were screened We have six counters and medical staff has been outsourced They are working in three shifts We are not testing everyone Those who are carrying negative RTPCR test reports and have no symptoms are allowed to leave said Dr Priyesh Gori a medical officer with H East wardSymptomatic positive patients were taken to the BMCs jumbo centre at BKC and asymptomatic ones were sent to the CCC2 at IT Park in KalinaScores of passengers were stuck together at Bandra Terminus as two trains arrived together on WednesdayPassengers were largely unaware of the regulations and were confused about the checking In one such case when a child tested positive his parents insisted that the test was inaccurate and asked for another testAlso ReadCentre issues new COVID19 guidelines from December 1 states to enforce strict containment measuresPassenger Hasnain Qureshi 24 a Parel resident who arrived from Ajmer was surprised when he was asked to join the queueHasnain Qureshi had arrived from Ajmer and wasnt aware of the protocolThe terminus witnessed a situation in the morning as both Kutch Express and Suryanagari Express arrived between 11 am and 1130 am The H West ward was testing all passengers irrespective of symptoms which led to overcrowdingIn a statement the Western Railway said Around 780 passengers alighted from the two trains and passengers of Paschim Express and Suryanagari Express which were to depart also arrived On normal days the subways dont get crowded With civic staff testing all passengers crowds increased Those without symptoms were then allowed to go Also testing booths were increased from two to six and security was deployed to bring orderIt added Considering the incident the BMC has been asked to set up more testing booths while GRP and RPF personnel will be increasedDadarA health worker at Dadar station on Wednesday PicAshish RajeAt Dadar station three express trains arrived till evening Five doctors along with 20 lab technicians and 18 paramedic staff were deployed at the station and 175 passengers from Saurashtra Mail 750 passengers from Bikaner and 900 passengers from a train from Bhuj were screened There was no resistance over testing said Kiran Dighavkar assistant commissioner G North wardCivic health workers conduct antigen tests at Dadar railway stations PicAshish RajeMumbai CSMTA family which arrived in Gorakhpur Express gets screened at CSMTThree trains arrived at Mumbai CSMT till 3 pm on Wednesday from stations in the southern or eastern parts of India and no one was found positiveA total of 143 passengers arrived in Konark Express Odisha Hussain Sagar Express Andhra Pradesh and Hawra Express West Bengal Out of 143 two were symptomatic but they tested negative said a health officer of the A ward There are three shifts with one team each enough for the number of trains arriving from the shortlisted statesMumbai CSMT has one team in each of the three shifts for testing passengers as it has very few trains arriving from the shortlisted states PicsSuresh KarkeraOver a 100 passengers who arrived in the Gorakhpur Express from Uttar Pradesh tested negative While most passengers cooperated they suggested having more counters We have had a long journey of over 36 hours It is difficult to stand in a queue with family and luggage for a long time said Suresh Gupta who has been staying in Mumbai for over 15 years and returned from his villageBorivliArriving passengers get screened at Borivli station on Wednesday PicsSatej ShindeTesting kiosks were set up at the east and west exits of Borivli station While all passengers expected strict checking they were surprised that theyd have to do antigen tests for R700 Even those found to be symptomatic at the preliminary screening refused to payNirali ChokhawalaWe have to do a test if a person is symptomatic Money can be handled later but we cant let them go without a test said Dr Soham Pethe from the R Central ward at the East exit Fortunately I had an RTPCR test report so we didnt face any issues said Nirali Chokhawala a Surat resident who arrived at noon on WednesdayRaveena Thakkar arrived from GujaratChokhawala and her husband are heading to the Maldives for a holiday and had a stopover in the city Our plans were made a few days ago but the new rules came only two days back For international holidays we anyway had to do RTPCR tests she saidInterstate busesBus operators have not faced any problems in ticket bookings so far PicAshish Rajemidday interacted with small tour bus operators at Dadar TT and found there were no problems with booking tickets However tour operators are worried about another lockdownRamzan Patel at the Neeta Tours booking centre at Dadar TT said We have heard about rules for people coming from certain states which is good We are taking bookings for Gujarat Goa Karnataka Another lockdown though will hit the business very badPradip Gode booking agent Chintamani TravelsAnil Rane from Kashmira Travels Things are fine right now but another lockdown will hit small tour operators badlyA couple of tour operators said that passengers coming from Gujarat were being thermally scannedIn Borivli while railway stations are busy following new protocols road transport appears to be free of them Around 500 buses arrive daily from Gujarat at the main bus stop near the national park in Borivli Since morning around 200 buses have arrived but no one mentioned anything about testing We have been asking people to carry a doctors certificate Drivers did not report any screening on the road said Jeetendra Chauhan from Sandip TravelsBus operators said the screening of passengers is impossible Traffic will line up at Surat if each passenger was to get checked It is not practical to check each person entering the state We dont have that kind of manpower or system said Rajan Nambiar a private tour operatorIn Andheri East bus operators were upset that the lucrative holiday season has gone for a toss with there being no advance bookings An operator said We have had no advance bookings and after the latest order people are even more scared of travelling Nobody wants to go even to Goa over the fear of being tested While this is just the first day and we have some bookings this seasons trend will be clear in a few daysAnother tours and travels operator Anees Baig said There are no cancellations right now but bookings are not what they used to be People are travelling only for work143No of passengers from east and south India100 No of passengers from UPThane started testing travellers three months agoPassengers get tested at Thane railway stationThe Thane Municipal Corporation TMC enforced testing of all arriving passengers almost three months ago and has tested 78764 passengers so far with 329 returning positiveTMCs Dr Vipin Sharma municipal commissioner said testing started on August 30 We have also begun nighttime testing of those arriving from mailexpress trains 10 days ago he saidDuring testing at night 7113 passengers have been tested with 31 returning positiveOfficials said patients are being moved to isolation centres While initially two teams were deployed the number has more than doubled now Every team has four doctors four nurses eight ward boys and 10 assistantsAntigen tests are conducted on the SATIS bridge near Thane station Medical teams and officials have been deployed to enforce protocols The driver intensified as Unlock progressedRajendra B Aklekar Ranjeet Jadhav Arita Sarkar Prajakta Kasale Pallavi Smart and Chetna SadadekarKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news