Bombay High Court

foot overbridges

road over bridge

Elphinstone Road station

BMC

Court directs immediate audit and repairs of bridges.Theon Thursday pulled up railway authorities for the poor condition of rail andand asked if the railways cared enough for the people of Mumbai. The court also observed that the authorities should create a fund which can be used to carry out urgent repair works.The admonition came against the backdrop of collapse of a portion of aat Andheri station on July 3, killing two people. A stampede had also occurred at Prabhadevi station (then known as) on September 29 last year, in which 23 people were killed.A division bench of Justices NH Patil and GS Kulkarni was hearing a public interest litigation filed by one Swati Trivedi raising concern over the poor condition of rail over bridges in the city.“The railways is important for the citizens. It (railways) is considered as the city’s lifeline. But do the railway authorities care for Mumbai?’’ Justice Patil asked.The bench also directed the railways to not get into a spat with theover funds or over who will maintain the bridges. “Repairing old bridges should be given priority and work should not be delayed because the BMC has not paid its share of funds,” the bench added.“The railways should conduct an audit of all bridges and carry out repair works immediately,’’ the court added.The bench said it was time authorities of both the Central Railway and the Western Railway take the issue seriously and undertake measures to ensure no untoward incident occurs.The court said the authorities should not take the issue lightly as it concerned the lives of lakhs of commuters who travel by suburban trains.Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the Central government, said a meeting of senior officials was held in which aspects such as safety of women passengers, clearing of garbage along the tracks and maintenance of bridges were discussed. He said that the railways was taking all steps to ensure safe travel for its passengers.The bench posted the petition for further hearing next week when the railways would have to list the steps it has taken in this regard.