Following stampede at Elphinstone Road, railways start drive to evict hawkers on pedestrian bridges
In a bid to prevent incidents like the Elphinstone station stampede that claimed 23 lives, the railway administration has undertaken a drive to evict illegal hawkers from the entry and exit points of the station as well as from the foot over bridges (FOBs) to ease commuter movement.
Twenty-three people were killed in the stampede on a FOB linking Parel and Elphinstone Road last Friday during rush hour.
“Though action against hawkers is undertaken on a regular basis, from October 1, this drive has been intensified with a combined operation launched by the RPF and GRP, and moreover they will also be patrolling the FoBs,” said chief spokesperson of the Western Railway Ravinder Bhakar.
However, passengers and railway representatives want permanent eviction of hawkers and have warned the railway officials that they would report to the Railways Minister if the hawkers return to do business at these spots.
Bhakar said Western Railway administration is soon going to demarcate the railway area to stop this menace forever.
He said, “Most of the complaints against hawkers we receive, fall under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) area where we do not have our administrative control.
“So we are blamed unnecessarily. Therefore, we have decided to demarcate our periphery and …read more
