BMC issues monthly passes for fully vaccinated people to travel in Mumbai local trains

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday started issuing local train passes to fully vaccinated people for whom services begin on August 15.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday (August 11) started issuing local train passes to fully vaccinated people for whom services begin on August 15. It also started an offline verification process for fully vaccinated people and the monthly passes were issued at 53 railway stations.

BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told ANI, "...in order to make it convenient for the citizens to travel in local trains and obtain Railway Monthly Pass, an offline verification process for Covid-19 Final Vaccination (completed 14 days after second dose) will start from August 11 at 53 railway stations in BMC jurisdiction area and at total of 109 railway stations in Mumbai Metropolitan Region. It will be functional in two consecutive sessions from 7 am to 11 pm." 

Iqbal Singh further said, "This will be facilitated both online and offline. The process of creating an app and starting the online process may take a little more time. Hence, the offline process will start from August 11, so that there is no inconvenience to Mumbaikars." 

The offline process of issuing monthly season passes will continue on all seven days of the week, until further notice, said Chahal, adding that the process will begin at 53 suburban railway stations in the BMC jurisdiction area, including stations on the Central, Western and Harbour Line.

According to the BMC notice, "Citizens who have completed 14 days after receiving the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine can go to the nearest railway station with a hard copy of the Final Vaccination Certificate (second dose) along with proof of photo identity. Citizens should note that if they do not have both or even one of these documents, they will be denied entry by the railway administration at the railway station." 

Notably, the desks will be functional in two consecutive sessions, 7 am to 3 pm and from 3 pm to 11 pm. 

The notice further said, "The BMC or the concerned Local Self Government staff at the help desk will check the validity of the Final Vaccination Certificate (Second Dose) of the concerned citizen on the CoWin app. They will also check the photo ID proof. Once the verification is completed and both the documents are found to be valid, the certificate and the identification proof will be stamped in the prescribed format." 

It added that once the COVID Certificate is stamped, a Railway Monthly Pass would be issued by the Railway, on its basis. It is important to note that the pass will only be valid from August 15 onwards.

The notice also mentioned that those who are not vaccinated, or have just received a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, would not be allowed to travel on suburban trains at present.

"Strict police action under the Epidemic Control Act/Disaster Management Act/ Indian Penal Code, will be taken if a citizen tries to produce fake/ bogus Covid Vaccination Certificate," the BMC notice added.

Employees in essential services, and the government, semi-government employees have been allowed to travel by local trains irrespective of Covid vaccination. 

Notably, Maharashtra reported 40,956 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a sharp rise from 37,236 logged a day ago, taking the tally to 51,79,929, while 793 more patients succumbed to the infection, according to the state health department.

On Monday, the number of daily coronavirus cases (37,236) in the state had dropped below 40,000 for the first time since March 31. A day later, the state recorded a jump of 3,720 cases to again breach the 40,000-mark.

With 40,956 COVID-19 infections, the states caseload increased to 51,79,929, while 793 deaths upped the fatality count to 77,191, said the health department.

Maharashtra, the worst COVID-19-hit state in the country, had reported 39,544 cases on March 31. The state had registered 54,022 cases on May 7, 53,605 on May 8 and 48,401 on May 9.

The state's COVID-19 recovery rate now stands at 87.67 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.49 per cent, the department said, adding that Mumbai saw 1,717 new cases, taking the tally to 6,79,129, while the overall fatality count rose to 13,906 with 51 new deaths.

Other districts and main cities in the division reported cases in four digits - 2,581 in Pune city, 1,441 in neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad, 1,694 in Solapur rural and 1,580 in Satara district. Solapur city reported 252 cases.

(With Agency Inputs)