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Fancy committees and no action make Mumbai a crumbling city

Unmindful of the previous one, railways forms another panel to look into Elphinstone Rd FOB stampede

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Suburban services resumed after the debris of Gokhale bridge in Andheri was cleared
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Yet another committee has been formed after Andheri bridge collapse. However, going by the record it seems that one cannot expect much from this. The Indian Railways has conveniently forgotten about a committee that was formed in October last year after Elphinstone stampede.

This was meant to understand why the construction of foot over bridge was delayed. This is the same 12-meter wide FOB connecting Elphinstone Road-Parel that was opened for public on July 3.

Soon after the stampede, another committee was formed to probe why Western Railway (WR) took 18 months to issue a Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) for the expansion of the FOB at the station. “The bridge is now ready, but there has not been single meeting with the Railway Board on this,” said a senior railway official.

The committee was led by Pratyush Sinha (Retired Chief Vigilance Commissioner), Vinayak Chatterjee (Chairman CII Economic Affairs Council), Subodh Jain (Retired member Engineering, Railway Board) and Pankaj Kumar (Director Safety, Railway Board). Sources said that suggestions have been readied, but unless the Ministry of Railways listens to the recommendations, they would not come into effect. The committee will inquire as to why there was a delay in the tendering process. It will also suggest ways and means ensure minimum delays in future.

On July 3, when DNA asked Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal about this committee and its report, he left the bridge collapse site at Andheri without responding.

Putting the blame on the ministry in Delhi, a senior railway official says that it does not expedite unless an incident occurs. For instance, the ministry made FOBs part of safety items and not passenger amenities after the Elphinstone tragedy. Citizens had been demanding for the bridge which was a part of the Rs 51 crore Parel Terminus since 2011, but it wasn’t built till the tragedy struck. Ironically, the new Parel bridge was built within 6 months of the tragedy.

COMMITTEES FORMED

SEPTEMBER 2017

To inspect all railway stations on CR and WR and find out it’s deficiencies. Create more space to walk inside stations, build additional bridges and remove stalls from platforms.

OCTOBER 2017

To check why WR took time to finalize tenders for Elphinstone Road-Parel FOB that was opened on July 3.

OCTOBER 2009 

To check reason for water pipeline bridge collapse on running local train.

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