City Pulse

Mumbai, Maharashtra: The September 29 Elphinstone Station stampede that killed over 20 people and injured over 30 has put the focus on crowd management or the lack of it at Mumbai’s railway stations.

Audits are being carried out at many of the stations. Commuters at Mumbai stations have been increasing year after year and at peak hour-trains are packed. 

The Disaster Management Plan 2009 of the Indian Railways rules that there should be preventive protocols when laid down footfalls at stations become extraordinarily high.

The Dadar Station is one of them which sees maximum footfall. “Central and western lines trains halt at Dadar. At rush hours in the morning (8 am to 11 am) and evening (5pm to 8:30 pm) our staff are present on all platforms. We try our best to get commuters to stand in a queue to avoid stampedes,” said Senior Government Railway Police (GRP) Inspector Nitin Bobade. 

“During the recent audit we gave our suggestions to widen the foot-over-bridge. Our full staff is on duty during rush hours. The public address system is used to make announcements. But it’s a tough task to manage 70,000-80,000 people,” Bobade said.

“There are high chances of a stampede on platform #1 and #2. We do not have enough staff. Our coordination with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is good. RPF constables and officers help us manage crowds,” he added.

However, commuters tell a different story. At times, they prefer to miss a train rather than push through the crowds on the platforms.

“I travel from Vashi every day. My office is in Powai. I change trains from Thane. The morning trains from Thane to Kanjur Marg are packed with commuters. I generally try to make it by 8:10 am to the station. If I miss the 8: 10 train, I know the next train will be crowded. It will be impossible to get in. The number of coaches on rush hour trains should be increased,” said commuter Sunny Luthra.

The Station Master of Thane Station begs to differ. “Thane station is in a very good condition. The state of the four bridges is good. The fifth bridge is being renovated,” the officer, who did not wish to be quoted, said. “The problem is with commuters. They don’t follow instructions. The infrastructure at the station is good and the Thane Municipal Corporation coordinates with us to manage crowds exiting the station.”

GRP officials, however, have made a few suggestions to improve crowd management at Thane Station. “Trespassing should be stopped. There should be fence or a wall. For the safety of passengers we have asked for more CCTV cameras. We are removing hawkers with the help of RPF. Crowd management can be done in a better way if our staff-strength is increased,” said a GRP official posted at Thane Station.

RPF presence on Parel and Elphinstone stations have been beefed up after the Elphinstone stampede and the public address system is being used to control crowds.

“RPF, GRP, Engineering and Commercial departments of Dadar Station and the Mumbai Police gave recommendations to Railways during the recent audit. Medics have been posted at Dadar Station. We have a system in place for crowd management. We generally do not allow vendors on the platforms. CCTV cameras have been installed to keep a check on hawkers,” said Satish Menon, RPF Inspector-in-Charge, Dadar Station.

Picture Courtesy: Rediff.com