Passenger finds cockroach in tomato soup served aboard Indian Railways

The declining standards of railway catering was in full display after a passenger found a cockroach in the tomato soup that was served to her on-board of 12780 Nizamuddin-Vasco Goa Express on Tuesday. When the passenger confronted the catering staff, they simply refused to accept their mistake but later harassed her by coming one-by-one asking for forgiveness.

Speaking to dna, Veena Nayak, the passenger, who complained, said, "It is appalling, the way these caterers operate. When I was served the tomato soup, I thought I saw an onion peel floating on the surface. But on a close inspection, I realised it was a cockroach wing. When I confronted the catering boy, he told me that he wasn't sure how it got inside the cup. However, other passengers insisted on opening the main soup container, he was carrying. And as suspected, the dead cockroach was floating on top of the soup."

According to Nayak, it was the co-passengers, who ensured that the staff left the container with them as proof.

The incident happened around 10:30am, when the train was approaching Manmad station. Nayak was travelling with her husband, Prakash, and the couple had tickets from Mathura to Pune.

The Nayaks filed a complaint with the train supervisor, Sanjay Deshpande, against the catering contractor Satyam Catering, while the one of the co-passengers, Vaibhav Kadam, lodged an online complaint on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website.

"These caterers overcharge, the prices on the menu is not the same as the price they ask for and when you complain, they come up with some non-existent rules. Moreover, the railway officials take a long time to attend to such complaints. We wish the railways can pull up their socks when it comes to railway catering," said Prakash.

Speaking to dna, NG Borikar,senior divisional commercial manager, Bhusawal division (under whose jurisdiction Manmad falls) said, "The passenger has the right to file a complaint at any station enroute. This is a passing train and does not belong to this division. It comes under the division that manages the train. As per the procedure, we will forward the complaint to the concerned authorities, who would have appointed the contractor on the train. However, I will also check the issue from my side."