Alarmed at a 16-year-old girl losing her arms after she slipped from a crowded Mumbai local at suburban Ghatkopar station, Union Minister Milind Deora has urged the Railway Ministry to urgently look into safety of train commuters and take strong measures to prevent such mishaps.
Deora, an MP from Mumbai South constituency, in a letter to Rail Minister Malikarjun Kharge, raised the issue of lack of passenger safety on locals and demanded that top priority be accorded to it.
“As you may be aware, travelling in local trains in Mumbai during peak hours is already fraught with risk due to the unmanageable rush of lakhs of daily commuters attempting to board or alight from the trains.
The huge gap between the platform and the footboard of the train makes the process even more risky and there are already several tragic instances of people losing life and limb on this account,” Deora said in the letter dated January 13.
“I am appalled at the indifferent attitude of the Railway authorities where by putting the lives of lakhs of commuters using these trains day in and day out,” he said.
Deora also asked Kharge to look into the matter “seriously” and initiate strong and quick measures to ensure travel safety on local trains.
“As observed by the Honourable Court, I urge upon you to take steps urgently to prevent recurring of such incidents in future,” he added.
Later talking to reporters he said, “The Railways should launch a campaign on the safety of commuters. The issue should be looked into holistically. Rail safety is an important issue in Mumbai which is very crowded.”
Western and Central railway should see how to launch the safety campaign as it will help in saving lives of commuters, he said.
Early this week, college student Monica More lost both her arms after slipping from the train at Ghatkopar and falling in the gap between the platform and footboard onto the tracks.
