Already upset with the pitiable condition of the Foot-Over Bridge (FOBs) in and around various suburban railway stations in the metropolis, Mumbaikars witnessed another mishap in the vicinity of Charni Road railway station on Saturday night. This time — a portion of the station of a BMC-maintained FOB located next to the Charni Road railway station crashed, injuring two persons.
The middle portion of the staircase of the FOB, which railway commuters use to head towards the Maharishi Karve Marg, collapsed at around 8.30 pm. The two persons who were walking down the staircase at that time were injured.
The FOB, according to regular users, has been in a dilapidated condition for the past three years. The railway commuters and local corporators had complained repeatedly to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about the bad condition of the FOB. However, there was considerable delay on the BMC’s part to repair the bridge.
Given that the FOB is located next to the Charni Road station on the eastern side, thousands of railway commuters heading towards Thakurdwar use this bridge.
Ironically enough, Shiv Sena MP from south Mumbai Arvind Sawant — along with the BMC and Western Railway officials — had inspected this bridge on Saturday morning. He had requested the BMC and railway officials to repair the FOB without any further delay. However, a portion of the staircase of the FoB collapsed in the night. Fortunately, the two persons, who were wounded in the incident, sustained minor injuries.
The incident revived the memories of a massive stampede that took place on a narrow foot-over-bridge (FoB) connecting the Parel and Elphinstone Railway stations in south-central Mumbai on September 29, 2017, in which 23 commuters were killed and at least 38 others injured.
The September 29 stampede had exposed the lack of repairs and maintenance of FOBs in suburban railway stations across Mumbai.