No place to stay: RO-ARO exam Aspirants stranded from pavements to platforms
With hotels, lodges, and shelters filled to capacity, thousands of aspirants from other districts like Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Barabanki etc were forced to spend the night on railway platforms, bus stations and pavements.
The exam which was held at 129 centres across Lucknow on Sunday exposed the city's inadequate preparedness to absorb the rush. Scenes of youth sleeping on plastic sheets, revising notes under dim lights, and eating meals on sidewalks painted a grim picture of the night before the exam.
By Saturday evening, heavy crowds were visible at Charbagh railway station, Qaiserbagh bus stand and areas near major exam centres.
District magistrate Vishak G and joint police commissioner (law & order) Babloo Kumar inspected the transit points and exam centres, asserting that arrangements like 'rain baseras' (night shelters), drinking water, toilets, and crowd control had been made. However, many candidates claimed the facilities were either insufficient or inaccessible.
Ravi Yadav, who arrived from Sultanpur, said, 'My exam centre is in Gomti Nagar. Trains and buses were overcrowded. As I couldn't find a hotel room or a shelter, I spent the night on the floor of Charbagh station.'
Similarly, Suman Verma from Pratapgarh said, 'My centre is in Indira Nagar. There was no information kiosk or signage for night shelters. I had to sleep near a corner at the station, fighting mosquitoes.'
'We expected better support in a city like Lucknow. Even basic directions to help desks were missing,' said Priyanshi Srivastava from Bahraich.
Special arrangements at Charbagh station: NR
However, railway officials maintained that the Lucknow division of the Northern Railway made elaborate arrangements at the Charbagh station to deal with the rush.
Senior divisional commercial manager, Northern Railway (Lucknow), Kuldeep Tiwari inspected the station premises. 'To manage the anticipated rush, 65 additional staff members have been deployed at the station. Special teams have been stationed on each platform for effective crowd management. Additional ticket and enquiry counters have been set up to ease passenger movement and reduce waiting times,' he said.
'For enhanced safety, 50 extra personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) have been deployed and real-time monitoring is being done through the CCTV control room. Regular public announcements are being made to provide train schedules, platform details, and other essential information to help candidates reach their destinations on time,' he added.
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