Decide on helipads near railway stations by November 5, Bombay high court tells Maharashtra government

The Bombay high court on Monday directed the state government to decide by November 5 the Central Railway (CR) proposal for erecting helipads near certain stations for airlifting accident victims.

In April, the CR had written to the government, seeking permission for allotting space for helipads near railway stations. However, it has not yet received any reply from the state.

A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni has now asked the government to decide on the issue. The court was hearing suo motu a public interest litigation, taking cognizance of a rail mishap in which a teenage girl lost her arms after having fallen from a local train at suburban Ghatkopar station.

Suresh Kumar, advocate for railways, said in the proposal that CR had around 12 sites on Harbour Line where helicopters could land. They have also identified another 14 properties which can be used to airlift the injured in case of major railway disasters.

In July, the high court had also directed the Railway Board to raise the height of platforms to 920mm by March next. This could curtail the number of deaths of passengers on suburban tracks. The railways has sought more time to do this, saying the tendering process had not been completed. The judges have directed the railways to complete the process by September 30 and be through with the work of raising platforms by May 30, 2015. A compliance report in this regard has to be submitted by September 30.

The Western Railway (WR) has said it would try to complete the work of increasing the height of around 48 platforms by the deadline or a little later, and complete the rest by May 2016.
Meanwhile, WR said it had also informed the court that work on 32 platforms that are around 760mm high, and 16 that are 760mm-840mm high would be completed by March 31, 2015 or May 31, 2015. Work on 97 platforms that are nearly 840mm high would be completed by May 31, 2016, it added.

Monica lost both her arms
Monica More (16) had on January 11 slipped while trying to board a local at Ghatkopar station and fell in the gap between the platform and the train foot-board on to the tracks. She lost both her arms in the accident, bringing to the fore the huge risk that lakhs of suburban commuters take in the unmanageable rush during peak hours.