No ambulance for 3.5 lakh commuters on Diva station near Mumbai

Diva railway station has seen multifold increase in commuters in the past many months, but does not have an ambulance.

Two people lost their lives in the past 15 days as medical help did not reach in time.

Thane Government Railway Police officials claimed they have written to the higher authority about the need for an ambulance, but there is no response.

The Thane GRP has 10 stations under its jurisdiction and only one ambulance. The stations see more than 200 accidents a year.

“Diva-Kalamboli railway line is far from Thane station, which has an ambulance. It takes time to reach the accident spot and attend to victims within the golden hour. Lack of proper access roads to Diva-Kalamboli route adds to the delay,” said R Shirtode, senior police inspector, Thane GRP.

The Thane GRP looks after Thane to Diva (four stations) and Diva to Kalamboli (six stations).

“It takes around two and half hours to reach accident spots near Kalamboli or at stations between Diva amd Kalamboli. The problem aggravates when back to back accidents take place at different stations under Thane GRP. The railways should provide two more ambulances — one for Thane to Diva and other for stations between Diva and Kalamboli,” said a senior official from Thane GRP.

A recent incident highlighted this problem. After 24-year-old man fell from a long-distance train near Kalamboli station, his friends allege that officials at Panvel station, which is the next station, refused medical help.

The body was lying for hours on the track. As Kalamboli comes under Thane GRP, they were asked to take the body there. After changing two local trains, the man’s friends finally took the body to Thane civil hospital, a good nine hours after the accident.

Activists said that they have sent many reminders to the Central Railway but nothing has been done. “As per the high court order, it is compulsory for the railways to provide an ambulance at each station,” said Lata Argade, member of the Railway Commuter Union, Mumbai.

The railway authority said that they have put forward the demand for additional ambulances. “We have written to the authority for additional ambulances at 20 stations on Central Railway, one of them is Diva,” said Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, Central Railway, Mumbai.

A GRP official said that often there is no ambulance driver available. “Few days ago, there was an accident at Thane station. But, the driver on duty was absent. One of our officials, who knows driving, drove the ambulance to the accident spot. We face this problem every two to three days,” he said.

Commuters said that railway officials take a long time to reach the spot after an accident is reported.

Many times, there are no stretchers at the platform.

“It’s an endless wait at times. The official delay and the injured loses valuable time,” said Smita Shinde, 34, a commuter who regularly travels to Thane from Diva.

Amit Kayashtha, 45, who travels from Dombivli to Thane every day, said the stations are getting crowded but emergency facilities have not been upgraded.

“So much time is wasted. We inform the station manager, who then alerts the railway police team. The process is time-consuming. In many cases, stretchers and ambulance reach the spot after hours,” said Kayashtha.

As per the statistics given by the Thane GRP, most accidents occur on Thane-Diva route.

First Published: Oct 21, 2018 00:57 IST