Andheri bridge collapse: Victim’s kin say WR yet to clear med bills
MUMBAI: Although Western Railway (WR) said its has paid compensation to the victims of the Gokhale bridge accident, relatives of Manoj Mehta, who died while being treated at a private hospital, said the WR paid only ₹15 lakh of the medical bills amounting to ₹52 lakh.
Countering their claims, Ravinder Bhakar, WR chief spokesperson, said of the total medical treatment cost, the railways has paid around ₹40 lakh in phases and the remaining amount will be disbursed within a week after the finance department clears it.
A pedestrian walkway of Gokhale bridge collapsed on Andheri railway station on July 3, injuring five people including Mehta, 52, who was waiting at the platform number nine to board a train.
Mehta was being treated at a private hospital in Vile Parle, where he died on July 29.
His relatives claimed the total cost of his treatment was ₹52 lakh and railway authorities assured to pay the entire amount directly to the hospital.
But they said as the WR is yet to clear the bills, the hospital has withheld a deposit of of ₹4.5 lakh they paid while admitting Mehta at the facility .
Last week, one of the relatives wrote to the zonal railway to highlight the issue.
They even tweeted about it and tagged railway minister Piyush Goyal for expediting the payment of medical bills. Rajesh Mehta, Manoj’s brother, said the hospital told them of the ₹52 lakh, they received only ₹15 lakh through RTGS on Monday.
“We expect railway authorities to pay the remaining amount to the hospital at the earliest so that we can reclaim the amount we had deposited,” said Rajesh.