Commuters walk through rain waters along a local train after heavy rains lashed Mumbai. PTI Photo
With rainwater flooding the railway tracks, hundreds of commuters were stranded for hours in trains with nowhere to go. An ineffective public address system compounded the ordeal for the passengers.
Mukesh Bajaria, 58, who was stuck in a Churchgate-bound train that could not move ahead of Elphinstone, said: “It has been almost eight hours since I took the train from Malad. The train moved slowly between Malad and Bandra but then gathered pace till Dadar. Just when I thought the worst was over, the train braked at Elphinstone around 1.30 pm and it has been stationed since. There was no announcement on the public address system in these eight hours,” he said.
Bajaria, a businessman, who has an office on Charni Road, said: “At Elphinstone, we could not even get out on the road as both sides were completely inundated. Had some announcement been made, I’d perhaps have alighted much before.” Sanjay Bajaj, 40, another businessman stranded in a train, said: “I started at 5.30 am from Bangalore and boarded a 9.25 am flight. I boarded a 12.30 pm train from Vile Parle to go to Kalbadevi. But have been stuck at Elphinstone for seven hours.”
Harsh Amlani, 21, from Andheri, who had boarded the same train for Churchgate, said his family had been calling frantically. “We run a wine shop in Cuffe Parade. Since I could not go there, the shop could not be opened as well. We lost business. Besides that, my family was worried all the while.” Javed Khan, 25, also in the same train, said: “This happens every monsoon. People suffer due to lack of accountability of the authorities. There has to be a permanent fix.”
