Goyal promises to cut red tape for rail safety
ELPHINSTONE FALLOUT MNS chief Raj Thackeray threatens to stall Bullet train project unless suburban network is upgraded
MUMBAI: Railway minister Piyush Goyal directed officials “to spend whatever is necessary” for passenger safety as he announced on Saturday steps to prevent disasters such as a stamped eat a busy Mumbai suburban train station that killed 23 people.
Goyal chaired marathon meetings with railway officials the past two days as the stampede revived safety questions engulfing one of the world’s biggest public transportation networks reeling from a series of fatal crashes, poor infrastructure and funds, and red tape.
“To eliminate bureaucracy and delays, I have empowered GMs (general managers) to spend whatever is necessary on safety,” he tweeted.
The tragedy happened on Friday morning on an over crowded stairwell to a pedestrian bridge that connects Elphinstone Road with Parel as at least four trains pulled in simultaneously at both stations and commuters dashed for shelter from sudden rain.
Officials said 22 people were crushed and suffocated to death when fellow commuters fell on them in the narrow foot overbridge (FOB). More than three dozen were injured and one of them died in hospital on Saturday. The 35-year-old man, Satyendra Kumar Kanojia, was one of the two critical patients and died because of heavy neurological damage, doctor sat KEM Hospital said.
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Se na( M NS) chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday threatened to stall construction of the MumbaiAhmed a bad bullet train, unless the suburban rail network in Mumbai is upgraded.
He also blamed the influx of migrants into the city, saying such stampedes would occur again as cities are gasping for breath in the absence of infrastructure.
Addressing a press conference a day after the fateful stampede on a footover bridge at Elphinstone Road station that claimed 23 lives, Thackeray also announced a protest march against railway administration at the Western Railway’s headquarters on October 5.
“I will not allow even a brick of the bullet train project to be laid. First resolve all the basic problems of Mumbai commuters. Government should first understand the needs of city, fix the problems faced by the people. If Modi wants the bullet train, let him construct it within Gujarat ,” he said.
He also warned the government against using force and said: “If the government tries to push it through force, we too will not hesitate to use the same.”
The B JP-led state government however said its was determined to complete the bullet train project .“Everybody has the right to protest in a democratic way. Raj Thackeray too is free to stage protest but the construction of the bullet train will not halt at any cost, ”revenue minister Chandrakant Patil said in Kolhapur.
Thackeray attacked the called the central government as well as the PM.
“I have not seen a liar such as our prime minister in my entire life. His government has come to power by lying to people. ... The government has not been able to maintain the existing set-up of the railways, and is launching new projects..,” he said.
Friday’ s mishap was an incident waiting to happen as the rail- way administration has not done anything to maintain and upgrade infrastructure at railway stations, the MNS chief said in the conference a this residence Krishnakunj at Dadar in central Mumbai.
Thackeray , who has in the past stoked controversies with his anti-migrant rhetoric, also went on to blame the large influx of migrants.
“The cities are not in condition to take the influx of migrants. They are gasping for breath in absence of the basic infrastructure as the government authorities keep blaming each other...”
The MNS president claimed that Suresh Prabhu was replaced by Piyush Goyalju st for the bullet train. “This Goyal is useless, Pr abhu was doing a good job. It is not known why he was removed .”
‘SPEND ON INFRA, NOT BULLETT RAIN’
Meanwhile, Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also attacked the government on Twitter, saying “Bullet train will be like demonetisation. It will kill everything else including safety.”