Motihari, Jan. 19: At a time when even the Tatkal facility fails to provide you with train tickets in emergency, there are some who have a “free” run in air-conditioned compartments of 13021 UP and 13022 DN Mithila Express.

The train plies between Raxaul in East Champaran and Howrah in Bengal, the hometown of railway minister Mamata Banerjee.

One Ekram Khursheed (57) and Shahnaaz Parveen (60) travelling up to Bapudham Motihari from Howrah on berth numbers 57 and 60 in the AC coach complained about the inconvenience they faced throughout their journey because of cockroaches inside the compartment.

Parveen, who had started her journey from Chennai and arrived in Calcutta by Howrah Mail a couple of days back, said she had faced a similar situation on that train, too, where she was confronted with cockroaches inside an AC compartment.

When railway authorities were shown the reality by the two passengers of AC coach number B-1 on Tuesday, the conductor concerned and attendant of the coach admitted that because of the laxity of railway administration cockroaches travel to and fro almost everyday. When contacted, the attendant on duty of the said coach, S.B. Prasad said he had complained of pest problems to the Eastern Railway headquarters from where the train originates and hoped that it would be attended to soon.

However, contradicting Prasad’s claim, a sticker of the sorting yard coaching depot found pasted inside the coach read January 30, 2011 as the next date of pest control for the same coach.

The conductor of the AC coach B-1 of Mithila Express, Uma Shankar Kumar, held the agency responsible for not carrying out proper pest control measures. He added: “The agency was not working properly.” The commercial manager of East Central Railway at Bapudham Motihari railway station, Manik Chand, said: “Such complaints should be directed to the department working for passengers’ health and hygiene on trains. Nothing much could be done in Raxaul because the entire pest control is done in Bengal. Moreover, the Mithila Express originates from Howrah, hence Eastern Railway was responsible for the passengers’ inconvenience. The compartments are cleaned up superficially during the train’s brief stay at Raxaul.”

When The Telegraph contacted Dilip Kumar, the chief public relations officer, ECR, he said: “Pest control in railway coaches is done by reputed companies like Warc Housing Corporation of India and Godrej High Care. If we receive any complaint regarding cockroaches found on trains, suitable action will be taken against the firm, which has failed in the pest control measure.”