COCKROACH MENACE IN AIR CONDITIONED COACH
i am Lieutenant Commander G Mathan, presently posted in Naval base, kochi. i travelled in 3-tier AC coach of Kollam Express ( train number 06001) from Katpadi Junction to Ernakulam Town station with my wife, mother-in-law and 2 years old daughter on 17 Jan 2011. the train journey timings was from 1505 hours to 0205 hours. the number of the coach we travelled is SR 05134A. the make of the coach is Aug 2005. this coach was highly infested with numerous cockroaches, that the section we traveled itself had more than hundred cockroaches. we could not sleep in the night at all. when we complained about the problem to the TTE Mr.Pandian, we were told that this is a special express with ad-hoc coaches and therefore the maintenance is very low. the same was agreed upon by the coach attendants Mr.Balaji. The cockroaches were freely moving on everything viz., luggages, bedsheets and also on the sleeping passengers. inspite of paying Rs.800 plus per ticket on tatkal quota, we suffered as if travelling in General compartment. these kind of poor maintenance potrays the Southern Railways in an ugly picture. this is the worst journey i ever performed in my Navy travel life.
STEPS TO PREVENT THIS PROBLEM
the pest control procedures should be carried out at appropriately frequent intervals in a most disclipined way, rather than carrying out just as a mere formality.