Illegal hawkers evicted from rail stns

Mumbai, Oct. 5: In a bid to prevent incidents like the Elphinstone station stampede that claimed 23 lives, the railway administration has undertaken a drive to evict illegal hawkers from the entry and exit points of the station as well as from the foot overbridges to ease commuter movement.

23 people were killed in the stampede on a foot overbridge (FOB) linking two railways stations in Mumbai on Friday during the deadly rush hour.

“Though action against hawkers is undertaken on a regular basis, from October 1, this drive has been intensified with a combined operation launched by the RPF and GRP, and moreover they will also be patrolling the FoBs,” said chief spokesperson the of

Western Railway Ravinder Bhakar.

However, passengers and railway representatives want permanent eviction

of hawkers and have warned the railway officials that they would report to the Railways minister if the hawkers

return to do business at these spots.

Mr Bhakar said that the western Railway administration is soon going to demarcate the railway area to stop this menace forever.

He said, “Most of the complaints against hawkers we receive, fall under the BMC. So we are blamed unnecessarily. Therefore, we have decided to demarcate our periphery and we will keep full vigil within our jurisdiction.”

The Central Railway too has launched a drive against illegal hawkers at several stations including Ghatkopar, Kurla, Byculla, Mulund.

Eviction of the hawkers has paved way for the smooth movement of commuters near the railway stations and on the foot overbridges.

Senior PRO of Central Railway A.K. Jain said, “Though our own security forces, keep driving away the unauthorised hawkers, they have been now been asked to deal strictly with them.”