Find solution to FOB or ‘no salaries’, HC to BMC, Rlys
Taking a serious note of the failure of the Railways and the BMC in constructing a temporary Foot Over Bridge (FOB) on the Central Line, the Bombay High Court on Friday came down heavily on the authorities. The court asked the authorities to conduct a meeting of its top officials and come up with a solution by Wednesday.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Mahesh Sonak even warned the authorities that it may pass orders restraining them from drawing their monthly salaries till they decide on the issue.
The judges were informed by the petitioners that the Railways have only pointed out the lacunae in various suggestions made by the Indian Army as well as the BMC and other experts for constructing the temporary FOB.
The FOB is required to be constructed since the century-old Hancock Bridge (between Byculla and Sandhurst Road stations) has been pulled down by the BMC, since it is “dangerous” for citizens. And now that the bridge has been razed, the citizens are compelled to use a longer route of nearly 10 km in order to reach the opposite side of Sandhurst road.
Having heard the submissions, CJ Chellur said, “Stop playing blame games. This is your (Railways and BMC) work and if you cannot do that, then tell us, we will hold you both responsible. Also, do not compel us to
pass orders wherein we restrain your officials from drawing their monthly salaries till they come up with some resolution to the sufferings of the citizens.”
CJ Chellur further said, “You cannot act blind and deaf to the sufferings of the common man. You just cannot allow citizens, especially children and senior citizens, to travel 10 km daily; and given the traffic in Mumbai it would take hours for them to reach the other side.”
Slamming the authorities for their failure, the judges asked them to put an end to the problems faced by the people. “Are you waiting for another accident? If you would have taken some preventive steps on time, then the recent mishap (Elphinstone Road stampede) could have been avoided. But all you know is to close your eyes to such issues.”
The judges also expressed shock over the death of a school going boy, who was knocked down by a train since he was forced to use the railway tracks to reach his school.
“The problem is serious and still you have no solution. I suggest you should think of your parents or kids using these routes (10 km road or the railway track). Or ask some celebrity to use this route, I think you will easily find the solution to this then,” CJ Chellur remarked.