Mumbai: On its first anniversary, WR on guard after Elphinstone Road stampede

Mumbai: A year after the stampede at Elphinstone Road (now Prabhadevi) railway station which killed 23 and injured 38 persons on September 29, 2017, was a wake-up call for the authorities to upgrade Mumbai’s rail infrastructure. The Western Railway (WR) now takes precaution to avoid September 29-like situation and get in action as soon as they see a situation heading towards destruction. The railway authorities deployed 550 Maharashtra Security Force (MSF) personnel to prevent overcrowding at railway stations. However, the railways are yet to materialise all suggestions given by the multi-disciplinary teams.

The probe committee had also recommended certain short- and long-term measures for Mumbai suburban stations, including installation of additional CCTVs at stations and in trains, removal of all encroachments on bridges and Foot Over Bridges (FOB) and in railway stations’ vicinity, among others.

While the work on the building of more FOB and installation of additional CCTV cameras is underway, the removal of encroachments needs a timely check every 20 days as the small-time vendors keep springing up on the railway. “A total of 31 FOB have been added to the suburban network of Mumbai by the railway authorities and many more are in the pipeline. As escalators help in directional flow of movement, there has been a special focus to add more escalators to the railway stations. Over 60 escalators and 40 lifts have been installed at various railway stations over the last one year,” said A K Gupta, General Manager, Western Railway. Gupta added, 25 more footbridges are to be completed this year and 33 more will be completed by March 2020. On Friday, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was in the city for the launch of a railway project, where he also addressed the media in the light of the one year anniversary of the September 29 stampede on Elphinstone Road (now Prabhadevi) railway station. Goyal said it was sad day in the history of railway and steps have been taken to avoid a similar situation.

One of the survivors of the stampede was 20-year-old Akash Parab, who along with his brother Rohit (11) was on his way to the flower market at Elphinstone Road when all hell broke loose on the FOB, killing his brother in the stampede. Parab said, “I don’t really like to recall the incident, but sometimes the memories flood back. It wouldn’t have happened had people helped immediately. I was at the edge of the bridge with my brother, and I saw people clicking photos instead of helping, which was ridiculous.” In the light of the findings of the report filed by Mumbai police, they have classified the September 29 incident as an accident, and was closed as an Accidental Death Report in the case of the deaths of 23 people.