KALYAN: A woman died after getting trapped between a train and a platform at Kalyan station on Tuesday morning.
Sitabai Solanke, 51, a resident of
Parbhani (
Marathwada region), was at the CST-end of platform 4/5 when she felt the need to use a toilet. Unable to find one nearby, she got off it and went into the bushes. While coming back, she was hit by an oncoming local train on platform 5. The incident again highlights poor or difficult-to-access amenities at stations. Railway officials said there is a toilet at the other end of the platform.
The train was slow, but Sitabai was hit in such a way that she was trapped between the motorman's cab and the platform. To pull her out, railway workers started breaking the platform, but she was dead within 45 minutes. Platforms 4/5 are Kalyan station's busiest, where both local and long-distance trains stop.
Victim had come for girl's treatment
Sitabai and her daughter Vanita, 24, reached Kalyan at 5.45am by
Nandigram Express. The two were eventually to leave for Mumbai for Vanita's treatment at JJ Hospital.
A railway official said there are a sufficient number of toilets at Kalyan railway station and a toilet also exists on platform Nos. 4/5, but towards the Karjat-end. Sitabai's relative, Ramji Bhati, who lives in Kalyan, said, "Sitabai found no toilet at her end of the platform and would have had to cover a long distance on foot to access one."
Besides her daughter, Sitabai is survived by her son
Yogesh, 13. Her husband is a daily wage labourer. Her relatives who live in Kalyan blamed the railways for the accident and demanded that toilets should also be available at the CSMT-end of the platform.
A railway official said that due to the incident, some trains had to be diverted to other platforms.
