Mumbai: Nearly 23 commuters have lost their lives last month on the bridge stampede at the Elphinstone Road station on the Western Railway.
To deal with the reoccurring stampede issue, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday have told an alternative bridge at the Elphinstone Road station on the Western Railway (WR) will be built by January 31, 2018.
This Tuesday morning CM Fadnavis took the tour of the western railway station and was accompanied by Piyush Goyal Union Railway Minister and Nirmala Sitharaman Defence Minister.
Addressing the issues, he said, “We have sought the help of Indian Defence forces in building the alternative bridge at the station. We will also make additional bridges at stations including Ambivali and Currey Road railway stations on the Central Railway in Mumbai in the same period”.
The Minister had also assured to complete the bridge work within a year.
He further added that “We are seeking help from the armed forces to ensure we finish completion on the work of the bridge at the earliest. We are thankful the help has been extended to us by them”.
Railway Union Minister Goyal said since most commuters travel through trains, there is an additional need of passenger bridges at these railway stations. The reports conducted on the multidisciplinary audit to assess the need for additional passenger amenities on the various railway stations have already been sent last week to the Railway Board by both Central (CR) as well as Western Railways(WR).
He added that “After the discussion with BJP Mumbai president Ashish Shelar on October 6, we realised that there was an urgent need to develop passenger amenities at the certain railway station at the earliest. We have decided to utilise military precision to work on completing the work of bridges. These three bridges at these stations have been specifically identified as they record higher footfall.”
Defence Minister Sitharaman said, “The army has always been steadfast in the provision of aid for disaster relief issues. This is the first time when we are actually calling army to help us in what essentially could be called civil work in the financial capital city of the country. The army conducted a feasibility study to assess whether they could complete the work and contribute to the process earlier this month”.
She further added that she is grateful to the army for coming forward and lending their help in nation building.