Elphinstone station FOB work gains momentum

The stampede tragedy at the Elphinstone Road station seems to have opened the eyes of the Railways. The department, which halts most of its projects during the rains, has taken on its heels and resumed its work on the long-pending Rs 51 crore Parel Terminus.

The Central Railway authorities have expedited work over the last two days on the terminus that was proposed in 2011. The project at Parel Terminus includes construction of five platforms with overheads, widening of platforms to 10 metres, providing new FOB connecting East and West. The tenders on the proposed FOB was also delayed by 18 months.

The tragedy would not have taken place had the FOB been wider. The Railway Board, on October 11, constituted a high-level expert committee to inquire the reasons that led to the delay of constructing the Rs 11.86 crore FOB connecting both Elphinstone Road and Parel stations.

The issuance of Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) for Elphinstone Road FOB took around 18 months, for which barely Rs 1000 was provided in the 2016-17 railway budget. The committee would be headed by Shri Pratyush Sinha (Retd Chief Vigilance Commissioner) with Shri Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman CII Economic Affairs council, and Shri Subodh Jain, (Retd Member Engineering, Railway Board) as members and Director Safety, Railway Board, and Shri Pankaj Kumar as Member Secretary.

The FOB was part of the Parel Terminus meant to cater the increasing crowd at Elphinstone Road, Dadar and Parel stations. 

DNA had reported about the slow progress and delays in the project. "We have started cleaning the area. Soon, sufficient manpower will be deployed for the work," said a CR official.