Tendulkar clears ₹2 cr from MP fund for repair of FOBs
Cricket icon and Rajya Sabha member Sachin Tendulkar has sanctioned ₹2 crore from his Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund for revamping rail foot overbridges (FOBs) in Mumbai here in the backdrop of the Elphinstone Road station stampede.
On September 29, 23 people were killed in the rush-hour stampede on a narrow foot overbridge (FOB) linking Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations during heavy rain.
Tendulkar, in a letter to railway minister Piyush Goyal, said he was requesting the Mumbai suburban district collector to authorise ₹2 crore for constructions.
He said ₹1 crore each be alloted to western railway and central railway from his MPLADS fund “towards immediate revamp and construction of FOBs in as many high density, single bridge stations on the Western, Central (Main) and Central (Harbour) lines” that the official may deem urgent.
“The recent incident at the Elphinstone Road station on Western Railway where innocent lives were lost in a stampede was devastating and I am moved to offer immediate support for the improvement of services for our Mumbaikars,” he wrote.
“For the millions of those affected, it is not a happy Diwali in any sense, we must do all we can as responsible citizens to ensure this never happens again on any network in India,” Tendulkar said in the letter dated October 16.
MUMBAI: