Tuesday’s accident at the Metro site has raised serious safety issues about elevated projects, including the railway’s plan of a 60-km corridor between Churchgate and Virar.
Tuesday’s accident at the Metro site has raised serious safety issues about elevated projects, including the railway’s plan of a 60-km corridor between Churchgate and Virar.
Experts say that it would lead to disasters if any accidents happen over running trains packed with passengers.
IIT civil engineer and transport activist Sudhir Badami said there was a general lack of competence among engineers today and stressed the need to follow safety norms.
“Expediting projects leads to mistakes and if such accidents happen on the running suburban corridors, it would be a major disaster. There will be a need of intensive monitoring,” he said.
The Ministry of Railways has proposed a two-track elevated corridor above the existing Churchgate-Virar line that will run air-conditioned trains. The proposed corridor is expected to terminate near Nariman Point at Oval Maidan and would be partially underground.
Transport expert Ashok Datar said whether it be railways or any body, our engineers usually do not follow rules strictly. “We could go in for other surface transport options and still achieve the same results. The elevated corridor would not just be risky, but also an expensive affair,” he said.
Railway engineers disagree that there could be problems, claiming they never compromise on safety.
“Every road and elevated bridge built by private bodies in Mumbai follow their own procedures. The railways do not allow this. It is mandatory to follow all our norms and that’s possibly why one always hears complaints that the railways delays city projects,” said a railway construction department official.
He added that the railways has a research body and there is a national standard of construction and safety operating procedures to be followed.
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