‘I’m worried about putting my grandmother at risk’
“Travelling by local trains is a compulsion and no passenger follows the coronavirus protocol,” 21-year old Vishwa Shah said, on her way to Bandra.
A student of clinical psychology at RD National College, Shah has been a regular commuter on the local trains since her school-going days.
Now, a whole year after she last boarded the train, Shah, a resident of Kandivli’s Mahavir Nagar, has begun travelling to college to submit her assignments in person. Physical classes will resume on February 15 at 10am sharp, Shah said.
Once classes resume, Shah will have to leave in the first slot (4.45am to 7am) of staggered timings — a full three hours before her first class. Her classes will end by 8pm, which means Shah will have to wait an hour before she takes the train back home. Shah said the other option of travelling by auto and cab is too expensive — she will have to shell out ₹500 both ways.
“I don’t have any other option.”
For Shah, this is all the more worrisome as she lives with her grandparents (both 75; her grandmother is on medication for hypothyroidism) and her parents (her father aged 51 is diabetic; her 47-year-old mother does not have any co-morbidities).
Travelling frequently by local trains will increase her exposure to the virus, and in turn put her family at risk, she said.
“At least I follow all the coronavirus protocols and wear gloves and masks during commuting,” she said.