100 rescued at city railway stations this year

CHENNAI: Amidst dirt, excreta and stench, a woman in her fifties lay on the ramp of the Central Railway Station premises for four days. Thousands of people pass by in the station round the clock, yet hardly anybody wondered about her plight and offered help. For them it was business as usual.That was when the Railway Protection Force (RPF) took her under its wings. Now she is safe and recuperating.“The woman was rescued on Friday afternoon and sent to a home run by a NGO near Chennai,” an RPF official informed. “Initially we were under the impression that she was a beggar. Two days ago, our staff observed that she had some problems in mobility. She had also refused to consume food. We then alerted an NGO that has taken up the responsibility of rescuing the destitute from the railway station,” the officer added.The woman, later identified as Pachaiammal, was taken to a home for the destitute near Manali for medicare. Pachaiammal informed that she hailed from Madurai and had some problems in backbone, which has made her immobile. That is all the NGO knows about her as of now. By and by, they hope to get more information.Pachaiammal is among 100 people -  the list includes runaway children the mentally retarded - who have been rescued from Chennai Central and Moore Market railway stations so far this year. Most of them were school children, some of whom ran away from their houses to escape the pressure of education.“At times some children from rural areas board trains, just to have enjoy the journey,” the RPF official said. “In a recent case, we rescued a 10-year-old mentally ill boy from an empty rake at the Central railway station and reunited him with his parents at Krishnagiri,” he added.As for the abandoned adults, most of them are physically ill or mentally ill. The Railways have engaged two different agencies for rescuing children and adults at the railway station.