Twenty-two people lost their lives in a stampede on a narrow foot-over bridge connecting the Elphinstone Road and Parel railway stations in Mumbai on Friday, and the tragedy directed attention to the infrastructural inadequacies and administrative apathy towards such complaints in the past.
The tragedy struck around peak rush hour in Mumbai's Elphinstone Road area, where several corporate offices are located. However, it emerged that Shiv Sena MP from South Mumbai, Arvind Sawant, had complained about the narrow foot-over bridge over two years ago, and had even written a letter to then railway minister Suresh Prabhu. In his letter, Sawant brought the Railways' attention to the state of the Elphinstone Road station, and demanded an overhaul of the bridge.
Reacting to Sawant's letter, the Railways had assured that a new foot-over bridge to connect Mumbai's Western and Central lines is "under positive consideration". This had come with a letter dated 20 February, 2016, and Sawant also released an advertisement saying this.
An advertisement released by Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant. Firstpost
The letter written by then railway minister Suresh Prabhu to Sawant. Firstpost
While Prabhu acknowledged that the demand was valid and urgent, he expressed his inability to take up the widening of the bridge immediately because of a lack of funds. In his letter, Prabhu had blamed "global slowdown" for "one of the toughest years" for Indian Railways.
Prabhu also cited "operational constraints" and "other compelling circumstances" behind his inability to take up renovation work immediately. He, however, did point out that the construction of a 12-metre-long new bridge at the Elphintone Road station remains under "positive consideration".
The nearly two-year delay in executing the project has clearly impacted the Railways, and had it been expedited earlier, lives could have been saved.
Meanwhile, the exact cause of the stampede isn't known yet, but witnesses claimed that a sudden rumour of a suspected electrical short-circuit triggered a panic run. Officials, however, blamed it on overcrowding on the foot-over bridge due to torrential rains as people took shelter there.
Crowds kept increased as many more attempted to enter the bridge — for shelter and for going over to the other side. Before rescue teams arrived, taxi drivers and others in the vicinity helped shift the injured to hospitals.
The Maharashtra state government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to families of the dead and free medical treatment to the injured.
With inputs from agencies
Published Date: Sep 29, 2017 05:17 pm | Updated Date: Sep 29, 2017 05:17 pm
