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Mumbai’s killer railway stations

Nearly 1,800 people have lost their lives while travelling by local trains in the city in the first six months of 2008

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Nearly 1,800 people have lost their lives while travelling by local trains in the city in the first six months of 2008. Despite this, little is being done to make the commute safer for lakhs of passengers, report Sandeep Ashar and Dayanand Kamath

Mumbai’s suburban trains ferry more than 64 lakh commuters daily. But the alarming rise in the number of deaths on railway tracks have earned this lifeline the dubious distinction of a virtual death trap. According to the data revealed by the GRP, the first six months of the year have seen the railway tracks claim close to 1,800 lives. Of this, more than 60 per cent lost their lives while trying to cross the tracks.

The railway tracks at Sandhurst Road seem to be the worst of the lot. According to the data released by the Railways in response to a query filed under the Right to Information Act by social activist and local resident Dinesh Rathod, 555 people had died on the tracks at Sandhurst Road in the last 18 years.

“This is due to the unavailability of a foot over bridge towards the Byculla end of the station,” said Rathod. “Scores of commuters are forced to risk their lives daily and cross the tracks.”

Sandhurst Road station, which is a stoppage for both central and harbour line trains, has only one bridge towards the south end of the station. “There are many government and private offices in and around Sandhurst Road. Residents and office goers of Mazgaon, Dockyard Road, Walpakhadi, among other areas, get down here. It takes them more than 30 minutes to reach their destination using the bridge,” said Rathod. “To avoid delays, many use the railway tracks to cover the same distance in lesser time.”

Among those who use cross the tracks are employees of the government sales tax office,  the Mazgaon court as well as railway officials.  “Even teachers and students of schools located in the vicinity cross the tracks,” said Rathod. “Every third day, a death is reported on the tracks,” said Rathod’s wife Jyoti. The couple has been urging the railway authorities to construct a bridge on the southern exit of the station for 12 years now. Though their campaign has drawn support from the sales tax employees union, the bridge is nowhere to be seen.

In fact, a proposal for construction of a skywalk from the railway station to the pedestrain Hancock bridge was approved by the railway authorities in 2001. The project was estimated to cost  Rs 31.68 lakh. Since the project area fell outside the railway premises, the bridge was to be constructed using funds from Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme. The City Collector’s office had released a sum of  Rs 62,000 from the MPLAD fund of South Central Mumbai MP Mohan Rawale in 2003. But nothing has happened so far.

A senior engineer with the Central railways said, “Money released by the Collector’s Office has lapsed as the funds sanctioned under the MPLAD scheme are supposed to be spent within a year.” 

Rathod and residents of the area have now approached South Mumbai MP Milind Deora to fund the project. “The site where the project is proposed to come up is falls under two constituencies — South Mumbai and South Central Mumbai. MPs from both these constituencies will have to pool in resources to fund the project,” said Rathod. However, railway authorities feel that one foot over bridge at the station is sufficient for the existing passenger load.
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