LUCKNOW: A sense of panic prevailed in a Mumbai bound train after a passenger resting on the side upper berth of AC-3 tier coach, spotted a snake which was peeping through a small opening of the coach roof.
The snake was first spotted in the morning hour when Gorakhpur-Bandra Terminus Weekly Express (15067) was through Gonda Junction. The coach B3 of the express was finally attended to at 2:20 pm when it reached Lucknow’s Charbagh railway station.
A video that went viral on social media, showed the tail of the snake in the coach roof opening, while a woman passenger was being heard praying to almighty.
“A passenger identified as Bittu Kumar who was travelling on berth 56 of B3 coach in 15067 spotted the snake. An alert was shared to railway authorities, following which Charbagh railway staff attended the coach. The entire coach was combed, but there was no trace of the snake. Finally on the appeal of passengers who were anxious to reach Mumbai on time to board international bound flights, the staff sealed the minor openings of the coach roof, and the train departed to continue further journey,” said a senior official of northern railway Lucknow division.
There were still few passengers who were not satisfied with the makeshift arrangements of railway staff to prevent any untoward incident due to possible presence of reptile in the coach, and as soon as the train reached Kanpur Central railway station at 5.21pm, the passengers demanded immediate relief.
“On passengers’ demand, the coach was evacuated and an available AC3 economy was attached with the train, while the coach with possible snake presence was detached from the train at platform number four,” said another official of North Central Railway Prayagraj division.
CPRO NCR, Himanshu Shekhar Upadhyay told TOI, “An arrangement has been made to shift the passengers in a fresh AC-3 tier coach for the safety of the passengers. Meanwhile, following the protocol, we are contacting wildlife experts to inspect the B3 coach where the snake was spotted, so that it could be rescued if at all it is found.”
By the time this report was filed, the train had left Kanpur Central railway station and was on its way to Jhansi, but was running late by four hours.