Passengers travelling in a crowded coach of a Gurgaon-bound metro complained of pungent smell, leading to coughing fits in a few cases during the morning rush hour today.
The incident took place around 9.15 AM between Green Park and Hauz Khas stations on the Yellow Line that connects north Delhi's Samaypur Badli to Gurgaon's Huda City Centre.
Sources attributed the smell to a "leak" of a pepper spray carried by a female passenger. The canister leaked possibly because it had expired and had become loose, they said, adding the passenger concerned also apologised.
Abhishek Kumar, 28, who had boarded the train at Rajiv Chowk station said it halted at Hauz Khas after passengers pressed the emergency button and spoke to the driver.
"The smell made it difficult to breathe. The elderly especially found it tough and many started coughing. The train stopped at Hauz Khas station and many passengers disembarked," Kumar said.
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials said the smell had dissipated within a few minutes of the train entering Hauz Khas.
Few passengers were not ready to board the train. The train left for its destination after a delay of five-six minutes and it did not require any evacuation, an official said.
"Many passengers started coughing due to the smell. The train was then held up for a minute. It resumed its journey again before halting at Hauz Khas. There, many commuters hurriedly rushed out to the platform in panic," another passenger, who was travelling in it claimed.
Dayal said a thorough probe into the probable cause of the
fault will be undertaken tonight after revenue hours and that an "alternative channel" for power supply back up is also planned.
Metro is also actively considering making its debut on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for real- time dissemination of information and to keep commuters updated so that they can plan accordingly and avoid lines facing glitches.
Yesterday, metro services were affected for several hours -- during the morning peak hours owing to Track Circuit Drop (signalling glitch) at Dwarka and in the evening due to power supply failure at OCC.
The two branches of Blue Line (Line 3/4) have gained considerable infamy in recent times due to frequent snags. The line connects Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida City Centre and Vaishali.
With five interchange stations on its 57-km-long route, around 30 per cent of the total passenger volume or around 12 lakh commuters take the Blue line on a daily basis.
