Commuters in Lucknow got a lesson in ‘Metro etiquette’ on the first day of the commercial run of Metro rail services in Lucknow. Nearly 20 kg tobacco products and cigarettes were seized from the commuters during security checks across eight metro stations on Thursday. Moreover, a portion of a wall at City’s Alambagh Metro station was defaced with paan masala/gutkha stains. This happened despite commuters chewing pan masala were told to spit out before entering the concourse.
Out of eight operational Metro stations, maximum pan masala packets, weighing 6kg, were seized at Charbagh Metro station, followed by Transport Nagar Metro station where items weighing 4kg were confiscated, Times of India reported.
Chief security officer Dilip Singh Pawar told the daily that on an average, three out of five persons arriving at the stations either carried tobacco packets or were chewing tobacco. Pawar also said it was because most of the people were not aware that tobacco products were not allowed inside Metro.
However, Mahendra Kumar, director rolling stock, Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation stressed Lucknowites were responding well to the new transport system. “Barring one or two incidents where passengers had to be told about the importance of cleanliness inside and outside metro stations, things went off well,” he told Hindustan Times.
When HT showed him the image of stains, he immediately ordered their removal. He also asked officials to strengthen the closed-circuit television (CCTV) network inside and outside metro stations so that no one could deface Metro property.
The 8.5 km stretch of the rapid transport Lucknow Metro system from Transport Nagar to Charbagh railway station opened to the public on Thursday. The project is being financed under 50:50 Joint Venture model with equity participation from the Central government and the state government.
