Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's new office makes Dadar station hawker-free

It is good news for commuters and bad news for hawkers at Dadar station. The conversion of a part of the Central Railway construction department complex at Dadasaheb Phalke road in Dadar (East) into railway minister Suresh Prabhu's Public Grievance Office has spurred the railways into making Dadar station more presentable.

Last week, on the back of a commuter complaint to Prabhu about the unwanted presence of hawkers on the foot over bridges (FOBs) of the heavily-congested station, CR officials carried out a hawker eviction drive there. For the first time in years, people using Dadar station saw the station's over bridges wide and pedestrian-friendly as it was originally meant to be.

In an official statement, CR stated that "the railway minister instructed the Railway Protection Force and Central Railway Administration to clear and clean the foot over bridges at Dadar railway station on complaints received from railway passengers and rail users recently. In a concerted drive, Central Railway has cleaned the FOBs and cleared them free of hawkers. Suresh Prabhu instructed for similar action at other important stations over Indian Railways. Central Railway appeals to the rail users and passengers not to patronise the hawkers and help railways to keep the FOBs clean and clear of hawkers."

In fact, a visit by dna to Dadar station and its FOBs showed that the eviction drive was holding for the moment. "It is seldom that we see Dadar station free of hawkers for three days running but CR has managed it, all thanks to the fact that the railway minister's office is at Dadar," said Manish Chaturvedi, a Bhandup resident.

However, there are still doubts on whether the drive will be as successful when it is extended to other parts of the suburban network. "The hawker eviction drive has always been a sporadic effort which one sees when some dignitary is visiting a particular station. In fact, even the hawkers move out quietly as they know the disruption is temporary. In Dadar, it will hold because thanks to the public grievance office, officials and RPF know the chances of the railway minister coming there is high," agreed a senior CR official.