The stampede at Elphinstone Road railway station in Mumbai killed at least 27 people and injured over 30. However, this would have not been the case had officials paid heed to the repeated complaints of commuters and the media that have been doing the rounds for at least 20 years. Anyone who has used that footbridge will tell you this was an accident waiting to happen, like leaving a burning flame near a petrol station. The only thing they did change at the station was its name. It was officially renamed Prabhadevi a few months ago.
Ironically hours after the incident, this reporter along with another colleague went to investigate the situation, and we were yelled at by a commuter for slowing him down as he was about to catch a train.
The spirit of Mumbai never dies and it unfortunately has become a cliche to justify official apathy and an albatross around the neck of Mumbaikars.
This was a portion of Prabhu’s reply, “It has been one of the toughest years for the Indian Railways because of the adverse effects of the global slowdown. Even in these challenging times, the following railway works in your constituency is under our positive consideration: The construction of a 12 metre wide foot over bridge (FOB) connecting Western Railway and Central Railway at Elphinstone Road, after extension of platform 1 and 2 towards the north side by 10 metres.”
This letter was written in 2016. It’s almost October 2017 and nothing has been done as yet. During this same period, nearly 3,800 people have died on local trains. And Mumbaikars will complain, but will continue living their lives as if nothing happened.
