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Every year, as the time of Diwali, the biggest and grand festival of the country and Chhath Puja, the great festival of folk faith, approaches, the restlessness and excitement of returning to their home i.e. Bihar reaches its peak in the hearts of the migrants living in different metros of the country. But amidst all this enthusiasm, a bitter truth emerges which ruins the dreams of millions of migrants every year. This time too, clouds of trouble are looming before the travelers coming to their home in Bihar on the auspicious occasion of Diwali and Chhath. There is already a situation of long waiting list and ‘no room’ in all the major trains coming from big metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Bengaluru and Kolkata to Patna, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga, Gaya and Bhagalpur. Along with this, for the passengers who dream of traveling by air, the fares of the airlines companies are skyrocketing, where the price of one-way air ticket from Mumbai and Bengaluru to Patna has crossed the figure of Rs 40,000. Keeping in mind the modern generative AI search, user-friendly and attractive style of Google Discover, and SEO and AEO standards, in this detailed article, we bring you the real situation of this festive crisis and travel.
Bad condition of trains coming from Delhi to Patna, all seats from sleeper to third AC are full.
During Diwali and Chhath, the number of passengers going towards North India and especially Bihar is so high that all the arrangements of Indian Railways start falling short. The situation in trains like Sampoorna Kranti Express, Tejas Rajdhani Express, Magadh Express, Shramjeevi Express and Vikramshila Express coming from the capital Delhi towards Patna, Barauni and Rajendra Nagar Terminal is such that the booking for those special days of October and November is full months in advance. From Sleeper Coach to Third AC and Second AC, the waiting list has crossed 150 to 300. People who were relying on confirmed tickets are now worried about how they will reach home to celebrate the festival with their families after seeing long waiting tickets in their hands.
Air travel from Mumbai, Surat and Bengaluru becomes expensive, flight fare crosses Rs 40,000
People who are forced to travel by plane due to not getting seats in trains are facing a huge blow on the economic front due to the arbitrariness of the airline companies. The fares of direct and connecting flights coming to Patna from Mumbai in Maharashtra, Surat and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Bengaluru and Hyderabad in South India have increased by four to five times compared to normal days. The situation has become such that just two-three days before the festival, one-way economy class air fare from Mumbai to Patna is being charged between Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000. It becomes almost impossible for a common middle class family or a working person to buy an air ticket at such an expensive price, due to which all the ways to go home seem to be closed for them.
Despite claims of special trains of Railways, huge crowd is gathering at the counter and stampede
Like every year, this time too it is being claimed by the Railway Administration and the Indian Railway Board that for the convenience of the passengers, dozens of festive special trains will be run for Bihar from metropolitan cities like Delhi, Anand Vihar, Mumbai and Pune. But the ground reality is that due to announcement of these special trains and not getting timely information about their timings, a situation like huge chaos and stampede is created at the railway stations. Whenever booking for a new special train opens, all the seats get booked within a few minutes and common passengers feel disappointed. The condition of General Coaches is so terrible that there is no space to even put one’s feet in it and people have to push through the windows to enter the compartments.
Arbitrariness of regional transport and buses, traveling by road also became very expensive
Taking advantage of this acute shortage of trains and flights, private bus operators and travel agencies have also increased their fares drastically. Fares for Volvo and sleeper buses plying from Delhi’s Anand Vihar, Ghazipur and Kashmiri Gate bus stands to various districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are being charged double or triple as compared to normal days. Apart from this, travelers coming by road after covering long distances also have to face severe traffic jams on the borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and poor condition of the highways, due to which the journey of 12 to 15 hours increases to 24 to 30 hours.
Migrants are helpless in front of the compulsion to go home during festivals and the desire to meet their loved ones.
Despite all these administrative and economic problems, the spirit of the migrants of Bihar does not diminish, because for them Chhath and Diwali are not just a festival but the biggest emotional opportunity of the year to connect with their soil and family. People are somehow forced to reach their homes by hanging in general coaches, sitting in trucks or taking huge loans and buying expensive plane tickets. Social organizations and intellectuals believe that the government and Railways should prepare a strong and transparent action plan a year in advance for a permanent solution to this problem so that migrants living in any corner of the country do not have to face such harassment to return to their homes.