HC admonishes railways, orders structural audit, repairs of bridges

The Bombay High Court pulled up railway authorities on Thursday for the poor condition of rail and foot overbridges and asked if the railways cared enough for the people of Mumbai.

The admonition came in the backdrop of collapse of a portion of a road overbridge at Andheri station on July 3, killing two people. A stampede had also occurred at Prabhadevi station (then called Elphinstone Road station) on September 29 last year, in which 23 people were killed.

A division bench of justices N H Patil and G S Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation filed by one Swati Trivedi raising concern over the poor condition of rail overbridges in the city.

"The railways is important for the citizens. It (railways) is considered as the city's lifeline. But do the railway authorities care for Mumbai," Justice Patil asked.

"The railways should conduct audit of all the bridges and carry out repair works immediately," the court said.

The bench said it was time authorities of both the Central Railways and the Western Railways take the issue seriously and take immediate measures to ensure no untoward incident occurs. The court said the authorities should not take the issue lightly as it concerned the lives of lakhs of commuters who travel by suburban trains.

The bench posted the petition for further hearing next week when the railways would have to list the steps it has taken in this regard.