In another incident that reflects the abysmal state of the city's railway infrastructure, a 57-year-old woman who was waiting at a ticket counter at Andheri railway station on Sunday night collapsed after a portion of the ceiling fell on her head. The three-storey glass facade station building in which the incident took place was constructed just seven years ago at a cost of over Rs 4 crore.
In another incident that reflects the abysmal state of the city's railway infrastructure, a 57-year-old woman who was waiting at a ticket counter at Andheri railway station on Sunday night collapsed after a portion of the ceiling fell on her head. The three-storey glass facade station building in which the incident took place was constructed just seven years ago at a cost of over Rs 4 crore.
Asha More, a resident of Vadodara, was returning to her hometown and was at the Andheri East ticket booking counter. She was standing in the queue, with her son and two family members, to purchase an unreserved rail ticket for the same night. While waiting, at around 9:20 pm, a portion of the ceiling came crashing down on her head.
"My aunt was waiting at the concourse and this cement slab fell on her head," said Saurav Mhamunkar, who had gone to the station to drop More.
More was in Mumbai to meet an ailing relative and was returning to Vadodara on Sunday night. The impact of the round chunk of cement plaster that fell on her head caused More to collapse. "First aid was given at the emergency medical room and she was then sent to Cooper hospital," said a Western Railway (WR) official.
More sustained 21 stitches while a CT scan was also carried out before she was discharged from the hospital. She is currently at her relative's home, while her family is awaiting reports of some tests that were conducted to ensure that the injuries she sustained are not of grave nature.
The Western Railway has declared compensation of Rs 500, and medical expenses will also be borne by the railway authorities. There are around 10 ticket booking windows on the ground floor of the building, where people queue up in large numbers. "What is the point of spending so much if the quality of construction is poor?" questioned Kailash Verma, member, Mumbai Railway Pravasi Sangh.
WR officials said that they constituted an inquiry to ascertain the reasons behind the sudden collapse of this portion of plaster. Necessary structural audit of all stations too will be carried out, they said.
Since the tragic Elphinstone Road stampede on September 29 in which 23 people died, this is the second incident in which a slab has collapsed on a passenger near a ticket booking office. On October 14, a woman suffered injuries after a part of granite from the ceiling near the ticket counter fell on her. She was entering the station premises from the road-overbridge of Elphinstone Road station when the incident occurred.
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