‘Employ technology to detect foreign objects on rail tracks’
Bombay high court on Friday asked the state government if it had technology to help detect foreign objects kept on the suburban railway tracks to prevent accidents.
A bench of justices VM Kanade and PR Bora said that it was “a matter of the lives of lakhs of city residents who use the local train services each day, and thus, the state must adopt the policy of prevention is better than cure.”
The bench said that the state and the suburban railways must consult with appropriate authorities to employ such detection technology to prevent any incidents of “sabotage planned either by local miscreants, anti-social elements, or terrorists.”
The bench noted that about six such incidents of “sabotage on the rail tracks by placing cement slabs or other such foreign objects” had been recorded across the country in the past few months and thus, the state authorities must give a serious thought to preventive measures.
It said that it realised that it was “humanly impossible for railway gangmen to monitor all the suburban rail tracks constantly,” and thus, the state must hire more gangmen on a “contract basis,” and also take the assistance of the Railways Police Force and Home Guards.
The bench was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Sameer Javeri on the safety arrangements and infrastructure of suburban trains.
A group of Norwegian volunteers are building a toilet for women near Mumbai Central station. The toilet would be accessible to the public from next week, said the volunteers.
The 15-member group is led by Alexander Medin, a yoga teacher and the founder of the institute Yoga For Life Foundation. Medin, who has spent more than 22 years in India, said that he had observed the problems created by lack of sanitation facilities in the country, especially for women.
“Women face lot of problems as far as sanitation and toilets are concerned. We undertook the project with a humble intention of making the world a better place for women to live in,” Medin said.
In October 2016, Medin started taking permissions for land to construct the toilet. The group started work on the plot as soon as it was allotted. “These people have not taken a single penny to build the whole thing,” he said.
The group flew from Norway with a budget of Rs25 lakh,adding Rs15 lakh from their wallets and funding the remaining amount from a private conglomerate. They then sought permission from the Municipal Corporation for land allotment.
“It will take us around Rs15-17 lakh to make the toilet completely operational and open it to the public.”
No decision has been taken on service charges of the facility pro vided. Once the lavatory is built the decision belongs to the corpo ration, said Medin.
MM Kshirsagar, assistant municipal commissioner of D ward, confirmed the initiative “Except for the date of inaugura tion, everything has been taken care of. It is definitely a wonderful thing that foreigners are setting an example for the people of our country. It is now up to us to take care of the society,” he said.