A day after the rush hour stampede at Elphinstone railway station in Mumbai claimed 22 lives, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has convened a full railway board meeting at the Western Railway’s headquarters at Churchgate, to evaluate all infrastructural projects, on Saturday.
A senior official said, Piyush Goyal as convened a full board meeting that will be attended by the Chairman of Railway Board and other principal department heads.
Parel terminus project is likely to be executed on a fast-track mode and several measures will be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents, the official said and added that, Additional foot-over bridges will be planned at other stations where passenger foot-falling is high and movement of commuters is not smooth.
“The railway minister has asked the officials to chalk out a clear plan to revive the entry and exit points of all the suburban stations,” he added.
Earlier, the Railways minister had declared an ex-gratia payment of Rs. 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased, Rs. 1 lakh for griveously injured and Rs. 50,000 for victims with minor inujries.
Sh @PiyushGoyal @RailMinIndia has declared ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lac to kins of deceased,Rs.I lac to grievously injured…. 1/2 @drmbct
— Western Railway (@WesternRly) September 29, 2017
Rs 50k to with minor injuries to victims of incidence of EPR FOB besides ex gratia declared by Hon’ble CM,Mah @PiyushGoyal @RailMinIndia 1/2
— Western Railway (@WesternRly) September 29, 2017
At least 22 people died and over 30 were injured in the stampede on a narrow foot-over- bridge (FoB) that connects the Elphinstone Road on the Western Railway to Parel on the Central line on Friday.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had shared a blueprint of decision taken during the meeting held on Friday.
Critical decisions are being taken to ensure safety of Mumbai railway passengers. Sharing some decisions from yesterday’s meeting. pic.twitter.com/zIfA4ZeUSW
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) September 30, 2017
On Friday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut told the media, “The stampede on the foot overbridge at Elphinstone Road railway station is a public massacre of the people by the government.”
Raut slammed the BJP for the much-touted Bullet Train project and said commuters’ safety and security must be accorded top priority.
Authorities at the KEM hospital have also come under severe criticism for labelling numbers on the bodies of the station stampede victims and putting their pictures on public display.
The hospital authorities claimed the measure was taken to “avoid chaos”. The pictures of the victims, with numbers on their foreheads, were put up on a flex board at the hospital to expedite the process of identification, hospital statement said.
Earlier on Friday, Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind expressed their condolences to the families of the victim and assured assistance to the people.
(With agency inputs)