A day after Maharashtra government announced restrictions on public movement to stop the spread of deadly coronavirus, huge rush was witnessed outside the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus on Wednesday to board long- distance trains, according to PTI.

Appealing people not to panic, the Central Railway (CR) asked people to not gather outside the station.

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To control the crowd and enforce social distancing, the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police have deployed additional force outside the terminus.

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Maharashtra has been reporting over 50,000 cases of coronavirus everyday over the last one week, highest in the country and on Tuesday, the state government announced severe restrictions on public movement over the next 15 days across the state.

The restrictions, which exclude essential services, will come into effect from 8 pm on Wednesday and remain in force till 7 am on May 1.

The Uddhav Thackeray government has imposed section 144 of the CrPC in the state, prohibiting assembly of five or more people at one spot.

On Wednesday, several people gathered outside the LTT to board long-distance trains.

Talking to PTI, the Central Railway’s chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said people should not panic and avoid crowding the stations.

“Only passengers having confirmed tickets are permitted to board the special trains and they should reach the stations one-and-a-half hours before the train’s departure time,” he said.

The Central Railway is constantly monitoring the waiting lists of trains and checking if there a demand for tickets to any particular destination, he added.