Mumbai’s suburban rail network ferries millions every day, but the stations and the infrastructure are in a pathetic state. The Elphinstone Road station stampede was a tragedy waiting to happen.
TWENTY years ago, the Elphinstone Road station in Parel in Mumbai was an innocuous little station that served mainly local residents. Such was its unimportance that fast trains did not stop there. Located in Mumbai’s mill district, it had witnessed rush hours once but as the mills rapidly shut down, the number of people using the station dwindled. In the mid 1990s, when the mills’ land began developing into massive commercial and residential complexes, the little station saw a resurgence in commuters and has become an extremely busy one in recent years. But, in spite of the increase in traffic, nothing was done to improve the infrastructure.
Until a stampede struck. On September 29, because of a sudden downpour, hundreds of commuters took shelter under whatever covering was available at the station. One of these was the bridge. Reportedly, a flower hawker shouted at someone, saying “phool gir gaya” (the flowers have fallen). Some people heard it as “pool gir gaya” (“pool” in Hindi means bridge). Fearing that the bridge was collapsing, people began surging towards the exit, triggering a stampede which killed 23 people, including an 11-year-old boy.
Sadly, it took a carnage to jolt the Central and State administrations into looking at the pathetic state of Mumbai’s local stations. Mumbai’s suburban railway is the city’s lifeline. Eighty lakh people use 3,500 services on four arterial lines every day. The load on the local trains is high and observers say that their capacity has reached a saturation point.What happened at the Elphinstone Road station is symptomatic of the larger malaise afflicting Mumbai’s suburban railway system.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
