Elphinstone Road stampede: One month on, no action against slums outside station

The narrow access to the culprit ElphinstoneParel FOB continues to be littered with hutments as BMC and railways bicker over whose responsibility it is to remove themDid you think Elphinstone RoadParel station was on its way to becoming safer after all the uproar and subsequent announcements claims of joint reports and coordination meetings precious manhours spent in discussions and visits Take a walk along the same access road to the foot overbridge FOB not much has changed at ground zero The encroachments just outside the culprit FOB are still standing indifferent to the jurisdictional fight between the civic body and the railways on whose job it is to remove themEncroachment on the road leading to the Elphinstone RoadParel station foot overbridgeThis raises questions on the joint coordination committee meetings the state government and the railways have been holding every month followed by a press conference to announce what has been discussed and decidedLeaving a lot to be desiredThe railway bridge on the north end of the west side of Elphinstone Road station where the stampede happened on September 29 has been opened up with side panels removed for proper circulation of air and new foundations laid for a wider staircase there However the existing staircase as of today littered with messages of safety that were pasted on it opens up on to an uneven narrow path surrounded by antisocial elements slums and other encroachmentsAlso read After Mumbai stampede Western Railway to remove 640 billpay kiosks at stationsThe narrow access path that leads to Elphinstone RoadParel stationWhile large hutments narrow down the stretch on one side the other side is fenced with more slums and antisocial elements roaming around make the area even more unsafe Physically the stretch is uneven unpaved and full of potholesOnce you take a turn towards the main road on the west through a narrow patch adjacent to IndiaBulls Finance Centre hawkers take up one side and abandoned vehicles the other During the morning and evening peak hours the stretch is chocabloc with officegoers people on the way to the Dadar garmentflower market and other pedestriansAlso read Elphinstone Road stampede impact Newspaper vendors ask not to be movedPassing the buckWhile the railways says the area doesnt belong to it and that it has put up clear jurisdiction markers there the BMC insists the encroachments are on railway land and therefore their responsibilityAssistant Municipal Commissioner of Gsouth ward Prakash Sapkale said We have been conducting joint inspections with the railway team to sort out these issues All the encroachments near the foot overbridge are in railways area it is up to them to clear those If the railways thinks that the encroachments are in BMCs area it should give it to us in writing only then we can initiate actionAlso read Elphinstone stampede Vada pav seller to help deceaseds family with a days earningAfter the incident the Western Railway clearly marked out jurisdictions and secured the area We have put up signages where railways limit ends and BMCs begins The encroachments are not in our area said WR Chief Public Relations Officer Ravinder BhakarSo all that the railway minister and his team in Maharashtra did was firefighting and drama with no real action If this has to happen after 23 lives are lost and all big decisions taken what is the use of having such committees when it is the bureaucrats who keep on fighting over jurisdiction and not look at the larger good fumed Subhash Gupta a former member of the National Railway Users Consultative CommitteeAlso view Heres why the Elphinstone stampede happened and how Mumbai dealt with it