Now, vendor seen picking up kettle kept inside train toilet
LUCKNOW: Days after a video went viral in which it was suggested that water from a train toilet was used to prepare tea and coffee served on the Chennai CentralHyderabad Charminar Express at Secunderabad station, a similar video -- supposedly of Charbagh railway station, Lucknow -took the internet by storm.
The Northern Railways (NR) said it had ordered an inquiry into the matter and the railway protection force (RPF) had been put to task to nab illegal vendors at Charbagh station.
“We ordered an inquiry soon after we came to know about the video, which is said to be shot at the Charbagh railway station, Lucknow. But we are still to investigate its authenticity,” said Nitin Choudhary, chief public relations officer (CPRO), NR.
In the video -- widely shared on social media over Friday and Saturday -- a youth wearing a grey coloured shirt is seen picking up an aluminium kettle kept inside a train toilet.
It suggests that water from the toilet was used fill up the kettle and was used for cooking or preparing tea / coffee.
Soon after refilling the kettle, the youth gets off the train and boards another train at the railway station. Meanwhile, the bystanders continue to watch him helplessly.
Although NR officials said they were trying their fullest to curb the menace of illegal vendors, the numerous entry and exit points on the station premises made it a tall task.
“There are more than 36 entry and exit points at the Charbagh station. This, at times, makes it difficult for law enforcers to keep an eye on illegal vendors,” said a senior official with the NR.
However, some officials blamed the RPF and the GRP for the rising menace, saying they were hand in glove with illegal vendors.
This is the second such video to go viral in a week. A similar video went viral on May 3, in which a vendor was seen coming out of a train toilet with tea and coffee cans, suggesting that toilet water was filled up in them.
The video was reportedly shot in December last year on the Chennai Central-Hyderabad Charminar express.
The NR had slapped a fine of ₹1 lakh on contractor P Sivaprasad, with whom the vendor in the video was employed.