Govt ropes in Army to rebuild Elphinstone bridge: What next for forces, ask Opposition leaders

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reached Elphinstone Road station for a surprise inspection. (Express Photo)

The government’s move to bring in the Army to help rebuild three foot overbridges in Mumbai,  including the one at the Elphinstone Road Railway station, has attracted criticism from a string of opposition leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah and Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam.

The two-time Punjab CM, a former Armyman himself, said the Army’s job is to train for war and it is best to keep soldiers away from civilian works. The Captain also urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to not divert defence resources to civilian works.

Omar, meanwhile, was more acerbic as he said the Army should have been the “last resort” to be called in “extreme emergency” and that  ”now it seemed to be the Ist number on speed dial”.

Also Read | Elphinstone station: Army steps in, to help rebuild foot overbridge by January 31, 2018

Captain Amarinder further said Nirmala Sitharaman is doing the same what General Brij Mohan Kaul did with the 4th infantry division just before the Indo-Sino war, famously dubbed as the Himalyan blunder.

Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reached Elphinstone Road station for a surprise inspection. Fadnavis said, “We have sought the help of Indian Defence forces in building the alternative bridge at the station. We will also make additional bridges at stations including Ambivali and Currey Road railway stations on the Central Railway in Mumbai in the same period.”

“The Army has always been steadfast in the provision of aid for disaster relief issues. This is the first time when we are actually calling Army to help us in what essentially could be called civil work in the financial capital city of the country. The army conducted a feasibility study to assess whether they could complete the work and contribute to the process earlier this month,” Sitharaman said.

Reacting to the development, senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam said calling in the Army for making bridges in Mumbai shows the failure of Shiv Sena-BJP ruled Municipal Corporation. Taking a potshot at the government, Nirupam said, “Hope Army will not be called to fill potholes.”

Twenty-three commuters lost their lives while 30 others were injured in a stampede over a foot overbridge on the Elphinstone Road railways station on September 29. In an inquiry report submitted to Western Railways, it was reported that the stampede was triggered by heavy rains as also panic caused after people mistook the cries of a vendor losing grip of his flowers for the bridge collapsing. The vendor had shouted in Marathi ‘phool padla’ which means flowers have fallen but people misunderstood it as ‘pul gir gaya’ or the bridge has collapsed, the report said.