Parents donate 13-yr-old’s eyes

Mumbai: A 13-year old student of St Peter’s High School, Mazgaon , was knocked down by a suburban train whilecrossing the tracks near Sandhurst Road station at11.20am, prompting a ‘ rail roko ’ by residents. GauravVora, a Class IX student, was returning home after hisexams, and was crossing the tracks 50 metres fromSandhurst Road station when the train knocked him down.Vora sustained injuries on his forehead, mouth, leg andprivate parts. His nose and ears were bleeding. He wastaken to St George’s Hospital at CST, where he waspronounced dead at 12.15pm. School principal, ED’Monte said students usually do not cross to tracks. “Theboy, who stayed at Noor Baug, would take the Hancockbridge but since it is under repairs, the children have totake a bus and take a longer route. Gaurav’s parents woulddrop him and pick him from school everyday but he wasalone on Tuesday. The incident is very unfortunate.” Sincethe school is 100 meters from the tracks, they would oftentell students during the assembly not to cross the tracks.Around 1pm, Vora’s relatives and local residents staged arail roko at Sandhurst Road, demanding a foot overbridgebetween Byculla and Sandhurst Road stations. Twentyservices were cancelled and 50 delayed due to the protest.The residents met senior railway, civic and GRP officialsat the station manager’s office. “The BMC has given acommitment that their chief engineer will visit the site onWednesday and conduct a survey to explore if a solutioncan be worked out,” said DCP (GRP) Rupali Ambure.Dinesh Rathod, a resident, said, “Ever since the bridge hasbeen demolished, commuting to either side of the trackstakes 30 minutes to an hour by road.”Six accidental deaths were reported between Byculla andSandhurst Road since January 10, when the bridge wasdemolished. These mishaps were reported on January 16and 25, February 4, two cases on February 8 and anotheron February 10. Four of the six mishaps were near the spotwhere Vora died on Tuesday.The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the pre-bidmeeting for reconstruction of the bridge had beencompleted on February 4. “It will be clear who theprospective bidder is on March 9. After that the proposalwill be tabled before the civic standing committee for finalapproval. We expect to complete reconstruction, withoutintermittent support, in 15 months, excluding the monsoonmonths,” said an official of the civic bridges department.The state-run St George’s Hospital, near CST, recorded its youngest donor when 13-year-old Gaurav Vora’s parents donated his corneas after he became another rail accident victim on Tuesday. “The child was brought to us from Sandhurst Road station at 11.15am,” said medical superintendent Dr J Bhawani. He said doctors from JJ Hospital, Byculla, retrieved his corneas that were then taken to the hospital’s eye bank. The family was counselled to donate the skin and bones. But doctors said it was difficult to retrieve the skin for technical reasons. “The parents changed their mind when realized the bone donation would involve taking him to the operation theatre,” he added. tnn