Mumbai stampede was a tragedy waiting to happen. Improvements must not be delayed
First and foremost, one must bereave with those unfortunate families who lost loved ones in the tragedy at the railway foot over bridge in central Mumbai. This tragedy impacted families — rich and poor, young and old — showing just how everyone in Mumbai depends on the suburban railway network. The Elphinstone and Parel railway stations are vital to keep the new business hub of central Mumbai operational. But more than that, this tragedy highlights just how incapable the Mumbai suburban railway network is in dealing with the population pressure of maximum city. While Mumbai has begun the construction of a new metro line from north to south, to take pressure off the main Western line, the suburban railway is handling at least 10 times the traffic it was designed to handle. Inordinate delays in building new infrastructure has been a criminal failure of India's ruling classes. While our political classes keep celebrating India's rural economy for decades, thanks to the bias of electoral rewards from rural areas, the fact remains that India, like the rest of the world, is a rapidly urbanising area and investments in urban infrastructure have not kept pace with population movement. Here, blame must be shared by the old urban elite which uses every means available to them to actively stall the development of new infrastructure, particularly using the National Green Tribunal and the Comptroller And Auditor General of India. While environment needs to be considered while developing urban infrastructure, given the critical situation as in Mumbai and many other cities, processes have to be made simpler and smoother. Take the example of the footover bridge in Mumbai, complaints about which have been made for years on end by concerned citizens and the media. So much so that even the railways were aware of the problem. But given the slow pace of approvals, thanks to the fear of being called corrupt in audits, delays were inordinate and more than 20 people paid their lives in the stampede.
The other, almost hypocritical response to this disaster by vultures masquerading as politicians, was to question the expensive new ‘bullet train’ project. The fact is that infrastructure has to be put in place for the future right now. The high-speed rail project, while expensive, is hardly a vanity project for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unless infrastructure for the future is built today, thousands of more people will die. We mourned the 20 who died on Thursday, but delays in building the Mumbai metro by stalling the construction of a depot by vested elite interests has a major role to play in the deaths of almost 10 people in the Mumbai suburban railway network daily. These people garb themselves in nice words but are little different from the ‘gau rakshaks’ they detest. There can now be few excuses for a rapid infrastructure built out in India's cities, because at least 40 per cent of India will be urban by 2030 and while the Government is doing a smart move by developing some new cities — Amravati and Naya Raipur with adequate infrastructure, retrofitting older cities needs to continue. If the Indian economy isn't to shudder to a halt, the arteries in India's cities need to flow. Mumbai needs stents across the city to ensure it doesn't come crashing down all over again.