The local residents and commuters have been fuming over the lack of planning that went into the construction of this FOB that has been ready since August 2012.
Friday's stampede unravelled a clear-cut example of lack of planning on part of the Indian Railways. The government after spending Rs 1.4 crore of public money to construct a foot-overbridge (FOB) at Parel, serves a little purpose of its existence.
The local residents and commuters have been fuming over the lack of planning that went into the construction of this FOB that has been ready since August 2012.
The FOB, located towards the north-end of Parel station is barely used, even during peak hours, say Central Railway sources. "What is the point of the FOB? They should have extended it towards Elphinstone Road so that a large number of people would have benefitted from the FOB," said Raosaheb Sawant, a resident of Parel.
The FOB, if extended towards Elphinstone Road, would have helped commuters moving towards Dadar as its landing would lead to the flower market. Coincidentally, on Friday when the accident occurred, eye-witnesses said that there were a lot of flower vendors making their way towards the Dadar flower market.
The new FOB would have provided an additional path for people to cross from east to west. CR officials claim that this FOB was built keeping in mind the Parel Terminus which, too, has been delayed. The civic authorities were expected to build a skywalk that would connect them with the new FOB.
When DNA visited this FOB, barely two to three people were using it to cross onto the east side of Parel. There were young boys sitting on the stairs while on the other end of Parel station, people were struggling to climb due to overcrowding. It mainly caters to the last three coaches of local train going towards CSMT and first three coaches of a train heading to Kalyan.
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