Bhopal: A video has gone viral, shows pantry staff washing and reusing disposable aluminum food containers—a clear violation of railway guidelines that prohibit the reuse of disposable items.
The video sparked widespread concern over hygiene and pantry services on Indian Railways.
The footage, recorded by passenger Ravi Dubey aboard train number 16601, the Erode-Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express,
The incident occurred between the Katni and Satna sections.
When the staff confronted, he appeared nervous and unable to explain why the trays were being washed in the compartment instead of the pantry area.
The video has since spread rapidly across social media, with users tagging Indian Railways and IRCTC, demanding an inquiry.
One post on X alleged, “A scam worth crores — passengers are being served reused, unhygienic containers washed with dirty water.”
The Erode–Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express travels over 3,100 km from Tamil Nadu to Bihar, serving hundreds of passengers weekly.
However, the viral footage has now raised doubts about the food handling standards maintained on long-distance trains.
As of now, no official statement has been released by Indian Railways or IRCTC. Experts warn that reusing disposable plastic containers, especially for hot meals, can release toxic chemicals and pose serious health risks.
The incident has raised serious questions about the monitoring and quality of catering services, with experts warning that such negligence could damage passenger trust in railway pantry operations.
Earlier this year, At least 18 people died during a stampede at a railway station in India’s capital late Saturday when surging crowds scrambled to catch trains to the world’s largest religious gathering, officials and reports said.
The Kumbh Mela attracts tens of millions of Hindu faithful every 12 years to the northern city of Prayagraj, and has a history of crowd-related disasters — including one last month, when at least 30 people died in another stampede at the holy confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
The rush at the train station in New Delhi appeared to break out Saturday as crowds struggled to board trains for the ongoing event, which will end on February 26.
“I can confirm 15 deaths at the hospital. They don’t have any open injury. Most (likely died from) hypoxia or maybe some blunt injury but that would only be confirmed after an autopsy,” Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent of Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi told AFP.
“There are also 11 others who are injured. Most of them are stable and have orthopaedic injuries,” she said.
Broadcaster NDTV reported three more dead from the stampede quoting an official of another hospital in the city.
Those dead were mostly women and children.
“I have been working as a coolie since 1981, but I never saw a crowd like this before,” the Times of India newspaper quoted a porter at the railway station as saying.
“People started colliding and fell on the escalator and stairs” when platform for a special train departing for Prayagraj was suddenly shifted, the porter said.
Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said a “high-level inquiry” had been ordered into the causes of the accident.
Vaishnaw said additional special trains were being run from New Delhi to clear the rush of devotees.
The governor of the capital territory Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena said disaster management personnel had been told to deploy and “all hospitals are in readiness to address related exigencies.”
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The six-week Kumbh Mela is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar, and officials said around 500 million devotees have already visited the festival since it began last month.
More than 400 people died after they were trampled or drowned on a single day of the festival in 1954, one of the largest tolls in a crowd-related disaster globally.
Another 36 people were crushed to death in 2013, the last time the festival was staged in Prayagraj.