Latest news with #Darshil
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
‘Adjust kariye', says staff as leaky VB roof leaves students drenched
Lucknow: A trip in the premium Vande Bharat Express (22415) became a tale of disappointment and trauma for a final year undergraduate of physical therapy, who was heading back to Delhi with his family, and other passengers on Monday. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Travelling from Varanasi to Delhi in the C7 coach (242627), Darshil Mishra faced an unexpected downpour—not from the sky, but from the train's roof due to some fault in air conditioning. "My ordeal started as I boarded the train in Varanasi. My tablet, trousers as well as other passengers were drenched due to leaky roof. To prevent the leak, the staff switched off the AC around my berth, which was next to the entry door of the coach. Now, I and other passengers were not only drenched but continued the uncomfortable journey amid humid conditions," recounted Darshil. When Darshil raised the issue with onboard railway staff, the response was a dismissive "adjust kariye" (just adjust). Adding to the frustration, the train ticket examiner (TTE) never showed up to address the situation. "The Vande Bharat Express, touted as a symbol of modern rail travel in India, promises comfort and efficiency. However, this incident highlights serious maintenance lapses that undermine its reputation. Further even after reaching out to DRM Lucknow division social media handle, no action was taken," said Darshil, who filed a complaint in the consumer forum for a refund. Darshil is pursuing Bachelor of Physiotherapy from Ambala. After reaching Delhi, he boarded a connecting Vande Bharat Express to reach Ambala while his mother and brother alighted at Delhi, where they reside. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The incident, captured on video by Darshil, has since gone viral on social media, igniting widespread outrage against . Netizens have slammed the railways, with many calling for accountability and improved service standards. The railways is yet to issue an official statement. However, a note prepared by Northern Railway following the incident reads, "This incident could have been avoided if additional metallic washer had been wielded over the existing washer of return air filter of the air conditioning system. The incident in C7 happened due to a choked drain hole of a drip tray beneath the cooling coil." The railways has suspended V S Galhot, senior section engineer Varanasi, rake in-charge for not ensuring proper draining of condensate water through drain hole during regular maintenance.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Water leaks, AC off: Vande Bharat journey turns nightmare for student on 8-hour Varanasi-Delhi ride; staff tells passenger to 'adjust'
LUCKNOW: A trip on Vande Bharat Express (22415), India's premium train, turned into a nightmare for Darshil Mishra, a final-year physical therapy student, and other passengers on Monday. Travelling from Varanasi to Delhi in the C7 coach, Darshil faced an unexpected downpour—not from the sky, but from the train's roof. 'My tablet, trousers, and other passengers were completely drenched,' Darshil recounted. 'It was an eight-hour ordeal. To prevent the downpour, the onboard staff switched off the AC around my berth, which was next to the entry door of the coach. Now, I and other passengers were not only drenched but continued the uncomfortable journey amid humid conditions. " When Darshil raised the issue with onboard railway staff, the response was a dismissive 'adjust kariye' (just adjust) from the Railway Protection Force personnel. Adding to the frustration, the Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) never showed up to address the situation, leaving passengers to fend for themselves. The incident, captured on video by Darshil, has since gone viral on social media, igniting widespread outrage against Indian Railways for its apparent negligence. "The Vande Bharat Express, touted as a symbol of modern rail travel in India, promises comfort and efficiency. However, this incident highlights serious maintenance lapses that undermine its reputation," said Darshil, who filed a complaint in the consumer forum for a refund. Social media users have slammed the railways, with many calling for accountability and improved service standards. The railways has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, leaving passengers and netizens awaiting answers. Darshil is pursuing a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from Ambala. After reaching Delhi, he boarded a connecting Vande Bharat Express to reach Ambala, while his mother and brother alighted at Delhi, where they reside.
Economic Times
6 days ago
- Economic Times
Passport Seva portal down: Services across India disrupted as applicants face long delays
Getty Images Passport Seva Portal Down The Passport Seva Portal experienced widespread server issues on Thursday and Friday, disrupting operations at Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) across India. Multiple users in cities such as Delhi, Bhopal, and Thane took to X to report last-minute appointment cancellations and long delays. Many people across major cities reported reaching PSKs only to find the centres non-functional. '@passportsevamea the website/app isn't working... we know that you don't want to travel seeing the conditions around but still I want to renew my passport so kindly make your WEBSITE WORK.. Thanks," X user Abhishek Rathore posted on the social media website. — rathore_tweets (@rathore_tweets) Also Read: India will roll out smarter passports with these changes in 2025 (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) "@passportsevamea Message received "Dear Applicant, your appointment for PSK/POPSK has been suspended due to Technical issue. Request you to reschedule appointment as per your convenience. -PassportSP". Is the passport office going to pay me a penalty for this instance?," X user Darshil said, expressing his frustration. — Darshil16061712 (@Darshil16061712) X users also claimed there were no dates available for rescheduling in the next few weeks, instead the next available date being months later. "Had an appointment for passport 2morrow morning for my kids and 2nd time in 2 months they asked to reschedule the appointment due to technical issues @passportsevamea. At 12.00 am we received the msg and they want people to stay here.. Their app too is not working," Mehul Kothari, an applicant, posted on X. — MehulKothari3 (@MehulKothari3) Also Read: You can now add spouse's name in passports without marriage certificateLast minute cancellations also caused confusion and further distress for applicants with upcoming travel plans. Rahul Sharma, who had applied for his son's passport before a planned trip to the US next year, said, 'The last-minute cancellation of my passport appointment is putting our trip to the US next year in serious trouble. I had applied for my son's passport so we could all attend my daughter's graduation, but without it I can't even begin the visa process. With long US visa wait times, the delays make it very difficult to plan anything.'In many cases, applicants got the information about the server outage only once they reached the PSK. "The passport seva kendra pasted a notice due to a technical issue unable to process a request. No SMS, email or ph call regarding this to applicant ...even people came to reach only after seva kendra. Gate is locked & no one is available," X user Vidya Nand Rai shared the notice posted in the Ghaziabad repeated outages left applicants facing uncertainty, especially those with time-sensitive travel plans. Parents, business travellers, and others awaiting passports raised complaints about wasted time and mounting travel disruptions. Despite the widespread outage, neither the Ministry of External Affairs nor the official @passportsevamea account on X has issued a public statement on the issue as of Friday morning. This is not the first disruption of its kind. A similar server issue occurred in April, which forced PSKs across the country to suspend services for two days, triggering delays and last-minute cancellations. Also Read: What are the documents required for an Indian passport?
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Passport Seva portal down: Services across India disrupted as applicants face long delays
The Passport Seva Portal experienced widespread server issues on Thursday and Friday, disrupting operations at Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) across India. Multiple users in cities such as Delhi, Bhopal, and Thane took to X to report last-minute appointment cancellations and long delays. Many people across major cities reported reaching PSKs only to find the centres non-functional. '@passportsevamea the website/app isn't working... we know that you don't want to travel seeing the conditions around but still I want to renew my passport so kindly make your WEBSITE WORK.. Thanks," X user Abhishek Rathore posted on the social media website. — rathore_tweets (@rathore_tweets) Also Read: India will roll out smarter passports with these changes in 2025 (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) "@passportsevamea Message received "Dear Applicant, your appointment for PSK/POPSK has been suspended due to Technical issue. Request you to reschedule appointment as per your convenience. -PassportSP". Is the passport office going to pay me a penalty for this instance?," X user Darshil said, expressing his frustration. Live Events — Darshil16061712 (@Darshil16061712) X users also claimed there were no dates available for rescheduling in the next few weeks, instead the next available date being months later. "Had an appointment for passport 2morrow morning for my kids and 2nd time in 2 months they asked to reschedule the appointment due to technical issues @passportsevamea. At 12.00 am we received the msg and they want people to stay here.. Their app too is not working," Mehul Kothari, an applicant, posted on X. — MehulKothari3 (@MehulKothari3) Also Read: You can now add spouse's name in passports without marriage certificate Last minute cancellations also caused confusion and further distress for applicants with upcoming travel plans. Rahul Sharma, who had applied for his son's passport before a planned trip to the US next year, said, 'The last-minute cancellation of my passport appointment is putting our trip to the US next year in serious trouble. I had applied for my son's passport so we could all attend my daughter's graduation, but without it I can't even begin the visa process. With long US visa wait times, the delays make it very difficult to plan anything.' In many cases, applicants got the information about the server outage only once they reached the PSK. "The passport seva kendra pasted a notice due to a technical issue unable to process a request. No SMS, email or ph call regarding this to applicant ...even people came to reach only after seva kendra. Gate is locked & no one is available," X user Vidya Nand Rai shared the notice posted in the Ghaziabad centre. — vidyaamp (@vidyaamp) The repeated outages left applicants facing uncertainty, especially those with time-sensitive travel plans. Parents, business travellers, and others awaiting passports raised complaints about wasted time and mounting travel disruptions. Despite the widespread outage, neither the Ministry of External Affairs nor the official @passportsevamea account on X has issued a public statement on the issue as of Friday morning. This is not the first disruption of its kind. A similar server issue occurred in April, which forced PSKs across the country to suspend services for two days, triggering delays and last-minute cancellations. Also Read: What are the documents required for an Indian passport?
