Elphinstone stampede is proof our government has failed us
It was a tragedy waiting to happen. The stampede at a foot overbridge connecting Elphinstone and Parel railway stations on Friday, September 29, claimed 23 lives. Many are still in critical condition at KEM Hospital in Parel. Authorities were quick to blame the tragedy on rains, but the real reasons are different.
Parel and Elphinstone stations on Mumbai's central and western railway lines respectively, lie close to each other. Built over a century ago to handle traffic primarily comprising workers from the scores of giant textile mills that dotted the landscape of central Mumbai, these stations are today two of the busiest in the city.
The two stations handle anywhere from three lakh to four lakh passengers every day, those that board or alight around 400 trains at each of the stations. But to cater to this crowd, is a single common foot overbridge on the north side, the area that has the busiest traffic, with just two stairways for exit. The tragedy happened at the exit on the Dadar side, which is a very narrow one. When it rained heavily for a while around 10.30am on September 29, commuters remained on the foot overbridge, not wanting to get wet in the rains, and more joined as new trains arrived at the two stations. Something set off a stampede - could be someone falling, or a false alarm, it is not quite clear - and then all hell broke loose. While several died of asphyxiation, others were killed from head injuries in the stampede.
This is the state of Mumbai, the country's commercial capital. There have been enough and more debates on its crumbling infrastructure. But still, the apathy shown in improving the city's public amenities and infrastructure is mind-boggling.
Consider this. Suresh Prabhu, the erstwhile railway minister, who hails from the city, had sanctioned a new foot overbridge at the same scene where the stampede occurred, in 2015. But two years hence, the project has remained stuck in red tape, by Prabhu's own admission.
Incidentally, Piyush Goyal, his successor and also a Mumbaikar, was right there in the city on the day of the tragedy, to announce giant railway projects.
Most railway stations in Mumbai, including the busiest such as Dadar, Kurla, Thane, Currey Road and Masjid, have poor infrastructure. Though a few bridges at Dadar and Thane built recently have proved to be helpful, however, they are still way off what should be adequate infrastructure.
Bridges are creaky and narrow in many places, stations lack even the basic of necessities such as good toilets, ventilation, or even fans, stretchers, ambulances and so on. In Goyal, Mumbai has the third railway minister at the Centre (the other was Ram Naik), but for a city of 20 million people, the rail infrastructure is woefully inadequate.
Post the tragedy, Goyal has announced a slew of measures, including widening of 13 foot overbridges, construction of 30 new ones in a year, empowering general managers to spend more on safety, instructing 200 officers from the railway headquarters to be on field duty, and faster clearances of all developmental projects.
These may be of help in the short term, and may ward off many other impending tragedies in a city that is bursting at the seams. But what is equally required is a long-term vision to implement massive mass transportation infrastructure that will also connect, rail, road and air travel in a seamless manner, as in some of the world's best cities.
With the economy going through a slump post demonetisation, construction is one of the areas that definitely needs a lot of focus to generate more jobs. But for that to happen, planning and implementation must go hand in hand. If things are again caught in red tape, corruption and official apathy, it will be a goodbye to many of our cities forever, and our hopes to be an Asian tiger will remain a pipedream.
(Courtesy Mail Today)