The court, while warning the railways to look into the issue of lack of clean toilets at railway stations, which also don't have proper lighting and safety measures, said it would call the divisional commissioners to court if they did not act.
"Constituting a committee to address problems, like providing clean toilets for women passengers on railway stations, should be done away with; these are basic facilities demanded by passengers, they should be provided immediately," the Bombay High Court said on Friday.
A division bench of justices Naresh Patil and AA Sayyed said, "This practice of forming committees is a century-old thing. You (railways) have divisional commissioners who can take prompt decisions, passengers would be thankfully to you... even if you increase the price, they would not mind paying it."
The court, while warning the railways to look into the issue of lack of clean toilets at railway stations, which also don't have proper lighting and safety measures, said it would call the divisional commissioners to court if they did not act.
The court made these observations while hearing a public interest litigation filed by NGO Help Mumbai Foundation, highlighting the issue of safety for women commuters on suburban railway. The court, during the last hearing, was shown a survey carried out by NGO Akshara, highlighting the lack of facilities at railway stations for women.
The court had also directed the Western and Central Railways to provide proper signage and benches near women compartments and to experiment with seating space inside trains to reduce overcrowding at the compartment entrance. It also suggested that the railways have non-slippery footboard poles to help passengers get into crowded trains.
The railways informed the court that a committee was formed to consider these issues raised.
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