On Saturday evening, with the crucial foot-over bridge (FOB) out of use, and auto rickshaw and BEST bus services absent, many commuters were forced to walk the entire length of the access road to the station.
Friday’s massive fire near the eastern entrance of the Bandra railway station has severely affected commuter mobility in the area. On Saturday evening, with the crucial foot-over bridge (FOB) out of use, and auto rickshaw and BEST bus services absent, many commuters were forced to walk the entire length of the access road to the station.
Sarita Sourabh, 35, a resident of Dahisar who works in a government office in the BKC, complained that it was very difficult to get a bus or even an auto from the FOB at the Virar end of the station. “Why can’t the BEST start services outside the FOB being used presently by the commuters?” she asked. Many others who spoke to DNA complained about similar problems in commuting to their workplaces.
Since the area outside the eastern entrance serves as an important link for those working in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in their everyday commutes, the situation could become all the more chaotic during the weekdays when there is increased commuter traffic. “The rebuilding of the damaged FOB could take at least three months,” said the chief public relations officer (CPRO) of the Western Railways (WR).
About 80m of the 190m-long FOB, which was used by as many as 70 percent of the commuters at the station, is being rebuilt, as the structure has been severely damaged. The CPRO said that to handle the obvious increase in the commuter traffic at the Virar-end FOB, the WR is adding two more ticket counters to the three already existing, and two Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs). These works will be undertaken on priority basis and commuters should be able to use them from Monday morning, he said.
Of the five BEST bus routes operational in the area, none are functional. Four of the routes, 310, 316, 317 and 303, now begin their journeys from Kalanagar and one, 615, from Western Express Highway. A BEST spokesperson explained that this was being done because the fire brigade was still carrying out its operations in the area, and thus, it had become difficult for the transport undertaking to ply buses.
When asked how long it would take for the routes to be restored, he was non-committal. “It’s difficult to give a time-frame. Our buses cannot ply right up to the bus terminus outside the Bandra railway station because of the many obstructions on the route. We will need a go-ahead from officials before we can do that,” he said.
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