Obnoxious: Rats ‘feast’ on passenger food in Mumbai-Madgaon Express pantry car

Mumbai: Several mice were allegedly found tasting and feasting on food meant for passengers in the pantry car of the long-distance 11099 Mumbai Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Madgaon Express, Goa, sparking outrage on social media, on Wednesday.

A passenger Mangirish Tendulkar, who was travelling on October 15 on the train that night, said he was shocked to see at least 6-7 rats in the pantry car having a feast on the food intended to be served to the passengers.

He clicked videos of the rodent menace in the pantry car and posted them on social media, as many reacted with furore, and raised questions on the hygiene standards of Indian Railways and passengers health concerns.

Tendulkar said that after filming he complained to a RPF constable there who reportedly asked him to “look on the tracks below, there are 500-600 rats there, if some 5-6 have entered inside, why do you feel so upset?”

Shaken by the response, the angry passenger called up the Assistant Station Manager who in turn called the Pantry Manager — and the latter reportedly expressed helplessness that “there are too many rats in the pantry, what can we do?”

Frustrated, Tendulkar also lodged a complaint on the Rail Madad App where an executive reverted saying they would penalise the IRCTC, though the response of Central Railway and other concerned officials to the incident and the viral videos is not known.

Tendulkar’s revealing videos show the rats virtually owning the place, with a mouse climbing onto an uncovered utensil and grabbing some food, another dunked his face inside the foodstuff before running away, some mice were seen running around the pantry platform where freshly chopped vegetables were kept open, and other packets of food and ingredients, dishes and utensils are also visible on the pantry shelves.