mid-day impact: CR to seal Wadala FOB gap by July 15 to curb trespassing, ensure commuter safety in Mumbai

When mid-day visited the site on Thursday, the gates facing the railway area were still open

The Central Railway on Thursday said it was cracking down at Wadala by closing the gap created under the newly constructed foot overbridge by the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), with the aim of minimising trespassing by July 15. At present, fencing work is in progress on the vacant land to stop trespassers and to discourage slum dwellers from throwing garbage on the tracks.

The work is nearly complete. The boundary wall will be closed by July 15," a CR spokesperson said. When mid-day visited the site on Thursday, the gates facing the railway area were still open. "It wasn't CR's responsibility to ensure that the gaps were fixed after the bridge was built by the party concerned. Those who constructed the bridge are responsible for fixing," a CR official said.

Despite spending Rs 7.8 crore on a new foot overbridge (FOB) at Wadala, the structure remains largely unused because the railway authorities overlooked a crucial step - barricading the walls and closing the trackside gates thus allowing people to continue using the dangerous shortcut across the railway tracks. In fact, by leaving gaps in the wall open, the Railways have unintentionally created a new shortcut for trespassers.

Citizens say this bridge is a glaring example of how the much-touted trespass control programme has failed, with public money being spent on construction without proper planning. Between January 2024 and December 2024, the Mumbai suburban railway network reported 2468 deaths and 2697 injuries due to various reasons, including trespassing and track crossing.