Heavy rush at the reservation counter. Picture by Eastern Projections

Oct. 18: As Durga Puja draws near, the Guwahati railway station has become one of the most crowded destinations in the city.

The station is teeming with people wanting to go out for a vacation or arriving in the city to spend the time with near and dear ones. Among those who are on their way home are students studying in New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and servicemen posted at various parts of the country.

There are long serpentine queues in front of the 15 reservation counters at any time of the day.

Several long-distance passenger trains to Calcutta and New Delhi like the Saraighat Express have run out of tickets.

For a large number of people, desperately seeking tickets, the shifty-eyed tout is the only hope.

A tout, who has been in the business for several years, was seen busy managing tickets for the passengers turned away by the station authorities.

The tout claimed that they had a well-oiled system in place where everyone from the railway police to the official booking agents ended up making a fortune. However, officials denied their involvement.

The railway personnel, too, maintained that they did not have any knowledge of such activities.

?We are always on the lookout for touts and have deployed flying squads to catch them. If anyone notices such activities, he can report it to the assistant commercial manager posted at the railway station and he will immediately act on it,? chief public relation officer of the Northeast Frontier Railway T. Rabha said.

Rabha said to solve the problem, people?s co-operation is a must as it is very difficult for the authorities to make out touts from the ordinary passengers.

He said if passengers did not buy tickets from touts, the problem would be automatically solved.

The railways have from time to time carried out raids and arrested touts, but have failed to root out the menace as the touts get out on bail and rejoin the business after a few days.

In a bid to clear the extra rush of passengers during the weeklong festivities, the NF Railways have attached additional coaches to trains connecting the city to Calcutta and New Delhi among others.

Rabha said they have not introduced any Puja-special train this year, as the waiting lists were not long enough.