Steel City residents stranded in Puri after Balasore train tragedy

Jamshedpur: The Friday’s train accident near Balasore has pushed many tourists from Jamshedpur holidaying in Puri into the sea of uncertainty, as train services between the temple town and Steel City are yet to resume.
Amrita Mitra Rao, a music teacher in a private school in Jamshedpur, along with her mother and sister, had gone to Puri to spend a part of her summer vacation by the sea along with visiting the Jaganath temple. After spending around a week in Puri, the family was scheduled to return on Saturday by Purushottam Express. But due to the train accident near Balasore services on this route were aborted and the railways has cancelled their tickets, sending text messages that fares will be refunded, said Amrita talking to TOI over phone from Puri.


She lamented that her booking at the hotel was till Saturday. Now, the management of the hotel has refused to give her further accommodation as they have no room vacant due to the heavy inflow of pilgrims in Puri for the 'snan yatra' (bathing ritual) of lord Jagannath on Sunday.
With no option left, Amrita along with her family which consisted of her aging mother had to find an alternative accomodation in a hotel which could not provide most of the facilities she got in her previous luxury hotel.
She said in the hot summer she is forced to put up in a non-AC room and food is also not up to the mark but she has no option but to adjust to the existing circumstances till she can come back to Jamshedpur with her family. She said, "I am looking forward to travelling by road," adding the cab rental agencies have skyrocketed their fares in this time of crisis normally the fare from Puri to Jamshedpur is around 9,000 for a sedan but now one cab rental agency has asked for 20,000 that too the full amount has to be paid in advance before the start of the journey. As she does not have so much cash with her right now, she is looking for an alternative arrangement.
The situation is no different for retired Tata Steel employee Robi Banerjee and his family from Sonari. The family went to Puri last week to spend their holidays and witness the bathing ritual of lord Jagannath but now they are stranded as their tickets for their return journey on Sunday have been cancelled.
Now the family is running from pillar to post for an alternative accommodation as their present hotelier is unable to extend the stay. Adding to the trouble, they do not know when and how they can return to Jamshedpur.
The Banerjee family is also trying to negotiate with cab rental agencies. The situation, as narrated by Robi, is that tourists and pilgrims from various parts of the country who wish to get out of Puri now and reach their destinations by road, have heavily outnumbered the number of vehicles available at the temple town. Robi said the local cab agencies have escalated their fares many times.
Meanwhile, Tarun Mahanty, head of Jamshedpur-based Utkal Association, told TOI they are ready to provide help to pilgrims and tourists from the Steel City stranded in Puri. He said people in distress can call on 8789923215 for any kind of assistance. He said the association has already reached out to the Odisha government for blood donation for the train accident victims. Mahanty said volunteers from Jamshedpur are ready to go to Odisha to donate blood.