Razing of extended medical room leads to war of words between docs and central rly

The razing of the extended Emergency Medical Room (EMR) at Dadar station by Central Railways led to a tug-of-war between the doctors and the officials on Wednesday night.

The extended portion of at least 180 sq km which was a part of the “One rupee clinic” was razed as EMR operators had constructed a separate room for operating a chemist shop without the permission of the railways.

On Wednesday night, Rahul Ghule, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of One Rupee Clinic, had spread messages through Whatsapp alleging that the clinics would be shut due to internal rivalry between the railway officials and the doctors operating them.

The central railways conducted a press conference on Thursday defending themselves and alleged that the EMR operator had constructed a separate room for a chemist shop which was not a part of the approved project work.

“During routine inspection work on Sunday, we noticed that the clinic had been extended for constructing a chemist shop. We later discussed the issue with the EMR operator and they themselves decided to raze the extended portion after realizing their mistake,” said Ravinder Goyal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Central Railways.

During the first week of May, Central Railways had agreed to provide a space for the clinic and medical services at one rupee.

This clinic was set up to provide first aid to victims of railway accidents within the golden hour.

The railways had outsourced the EMR to a private party to set up the clinic.

This clinic has facilities like wheelchair, pathological lab offering tests at discounted rates and an electrocardiograph (ECG) machine. At present, EMR rooms were outsourced to a private agency at stations like Wadala Road, Ghatkopar, Dadar, Mulund, Kurla and Karjat.

Contacted, Ghule said the matter has been solved and the central railways have allowed them to construct a chemist shop along with the clinic.

Trains delayed on harbour line

In less than two weeks, local train services on harbour line once again came to a halt for over an hour on Thursday. This time, it was due to a technical fault in the overhead wire at Panvel station.

The problem was detected in the morning at 6.10. At least 11 trains were cancelled and more than 26 were delayed.

“The trains were running late for over 20 minutes in the morning. The trains were delayed as it took us more time to rectify the technical fault,” said a railway official.

On April 24, a rail fracture that was detected between Vashi and Mankhurd railway tracks caused the trains to be delayed by over an hour.

On January 3, a rail fracture was detected near Wadala platform number one which caused the trains to be delayed by 30 minutes.