Mumbai: Both the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR), called the lifeline of Mumbai, have invited suburban rail commuters to send in their suggestions on how to curb the “rising trend of accidental deaths on Mumbai suburban railway system.”
The WR has also asked passenger associations, NGOs and other stakeholders to send in their suggestions and opinions which shall be put before the committee constituted on the directives of the Railway Board to stop accidental deaths in suburban railways.
Over 3,500 accidental deaths are reported annually on the suburban railway systems, which carry millions of commuters daily. Despite more trains being plied to carry more passengers, the railways are unable to cope up with the daily rush.
For many, the only way to reach one’s destination during peak hours is to hang out dangerously from the footboard of overcrowded trains — and this is the cause of majority of the accidents as commuters lose balance and fall on the tracks or platforms which in most cases is fatal.
Matters came to a head when, on November 27, a video went viral showing a young man, Bhavesh Nakhate, 21, a Dombivili resident, trying to find a little space to cling to on the overcrowded train, then falling to his death.
Social media was up in arms over the death on the tracks. Rail Minister Suresh Prabhu reviewed the situation and ordered CR and WR to set up committees to study the reasons behind such accidental deaths. The committees will submit their reports by December 31. There were two more fatal incidents of commuters falling from trains within that week.
Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer Narendra Patil said, “In its first meeting [on December 6], our committee members discussed various issues on accidental deaths at length, but they also wanted larger participation of commuters. Hence, it was decided to incorporate the suggestions of passengers also to weed out the ailing issues of suburban commuters.”
Commuters have been asked to log onto the railway website or email their suggestions with the deadline being December 21.
The Bombay High Court, too, had come heavily on the railways on December 2 for its negligent attitude towards the safety of passenger and failure to provide better services on suburban trains. A division bench of Justices N.H. Patil and S.B. Shukre, which is hearing a bunch of public interest litigations on the safety aspect, was informed of Nakhate’s death.
Justice Patil said, “These deaths will continue unless you [railways] do something immediately. Nobody is taking this seriously. For railways it is just another death. This is a sorry state of affairs and railways seem to be completely helpless.”
The court further rapped the rail authorities and said that the population will continue to increase but, “is the railways prepared to handle the situation?”
It also suggested that railways should take that extra effort to ensure people are not forced to overcrowd and make arrangements so that passengers do not mind skipping one train.
