Left-behind baggage is proving to be a decent source of revenue for the Railways as such items are auctioned from time to time.
In this process, Mumbai division of the Central Railway has earned `4.90 lakh in less than a year, which has come from 11 auctions of lost property that is stored in the division’s parcel offices. These items get auctioned after no one turns up to claim it. The Mumbai division held these auctions at its parcel offices in Wadibundar, Kalyan and LTT from May 31, 2013 to May 16, 2014. The articles that passengers usually leave behind in trains are mainly clothing, suitcases, utensils, cell phones, watches or food items.
Figures provided by the Central Railway related to the auctions say that Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) station sees the maximum amount of left-behind articles, followed by Wadibunder and Kalyan stations.
In the last year, LTT’s parcel office had to carry out eight auctions in which 601 packages went under the hammer, bringing in `4.13 lakh. Wadibunder parcel office held two auctions, raking in `52,000 and Kalyan parcel office held one auction, which fetched `25,000.
“Perishable items, mainly edible things, are kept separately and given to the needy. The rest is handed over to the stationmaster, who keeps them with him for a few days in case their owners turn up. When the owner does not come to claim the forgotten article, it is sent to the nearest parcel office under the supervision of commercial officers,” said a CR commercial official.