Maharashtra: When Mumbai’s lifeline turns right into a ‘homicide line’
Yearly, Mumbai’s hopes are derailed by the Union Price range
Whereas Mumbai’s lifeline turns right into a homicide line, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet prepare undertaking soaks up Rs 1.08 lakh crore. There’s a evident want for extra trains throughout peak hours (9–11 am and 5–7 pm). For the Dharavi Redevelopment Mission, the Central authorities handed over 6.4 acres of railway land close to Matunga-Mahim to the Adani Group. However in relation to native trains, the authorities declare there’s no land for growth.
What are Mumbaikars — uncared for and ignored — to do? They leap into the quick native, regardless of how crowded, and cling on for expensive life. The worry of shedding their jobs in the event that they arrive late could price them their lives.
GRP constable Babasaheb Mukhyadal died on 9 June on his option to work. Ditto for Ketan Saroj, Rahul Gupta and Mayur Shah. Among the many injured have been Shiv Gawli, Adesh Bhoir, Rehan Sheikh, Anil Extra, Tushar Bhagat, Manish Saroj, Machhindra Gotarne, Sneha Dhonde and Priyanka Bhatia.
Final 12 months, on 23 April, on this exact same stretch, Awadhesh Dubey misplaced his brother Rajesh. Awadhesh laments that even after that tragedy, no enhancements or preparations to safeguard commuters throughout peak hours have been put in place.
Sameer Zaveri, now 55, misplaced each his legs in 1989 whereas crossing the tracks at Borivali. Immediately, he fights authorized battles to save lots of the lives of others. Due to his efforts, native trains have been prolonged from 12 to fifteen coaches. Even so, overcrowding hasn’t eased. What’s wanted is a whole overhaul of infrastructure. Rising frequency would assist, and guaranteeing speedy medical response at accident websites might considerably cut back fatalities.
As an alternative of galvanising sensible options, the difficulty is hijacked by politics. Overcrowding is wrongly attributed to “outsiders” (i.e. migrants from different states). Even after the Mumbra tragedy, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena president Raj Thackeray reignited this narrative. The true concern — native prepare security — will get buried in political rhetoric.
