In a move to decongest the foot overbridge (FOB) that connects Parel and Elphinstone Road stations, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) is set to restrict commuters from using the bridge when the crowd swells at the station in monsoons. The crowd would be directed to use the alternative bridge made at Parel station by the Army that connects to the flower market on the western side. The move is a part of the action plan prepared by the RPF to ensure smooth movement of commuters using FOBs during monsoons. On September 29, 2017, a stampede on the Parel-Elphinstone had killed 23 commuters after unexpected rain led to crowding on the bridge. To test the viability of this proposal, the RPF conducted a 15-minute mock-drill on Wednesday, during which they blocked the entrance to the staircase of the bridge for some time. The crowd was later asked to use the alternative bridge made by the Army. The mock drill was conducted at Parel, Chinchpokali and Currey Road stations. “We conducted the mock drill to check if this experiment could help de-congest the bridge. It was successful and we plan to use it on days when the crowd builds up inside the station during monsoons. We would use a rope to block the entrance to the bridge, which sees heavy crowd. Our officers would also flash placards requesting commuters to use the alternate bridge,” said Sachin Bhalode, Senior Divisional Security Commissioner (DSC), RPF (Central Railways). In the past six months, at least 10 FOBs have been constructed by the Railways and Bombay Engineering Group and Center (BGE and C), Pune with an aim to decongest railway bridges. Almost three months after the bridge made by Army at Parel was opened for commuters, it is yet to achieve its purpose. Commuters have complained that as the bridge does not connect to the Elphinstone Road station, it is hardly of any use to them. “We would block the entrance of the bridge for a limited period till the queue to either alight from the bridge or climb it reduces. We would ensure a senior police officer takes care of crowd management at the station. We would also temporarily partition the staircase using rope to ensure commuters are able to climb and alight from the bridge,” Bhalode said. The RPF has proposed to call for an additional 150 home guards who would assist it in crowd management. The CR RPF at present manages with 251 officials from Maharashtra State Force (MSF) to man the crowd on bridges. “The additional force has been called to man the crowd during monsoons. Through walkie-talkies, we would ensure the staff gets updates on crowd movement. We would also make announcements to stop passengers from crowding up at one place. The staff would be asked to monitor cameras that display movement of crowd,” Bhalode said. The mock drill also assessed the responsiveness of MSF and RPF officials to coordinate with each other if a stampede-like situation arises. The action plan would be implemented at other stations, including Chinchpokli, Currey Road, Kurla, Ghatkopar and Dadar. On the Western Railway (WR), the RPF would conduct mock drills at Kandivali, Elphinstone Road, Jogeshwari and Andheri stations on Thursday. “Similar mock drills would be conducted to check the preparedness of the staff. We have also prepared an action plan to man crowd at other stations during monsoons,” said Anup Shuka, senior DSC, RPF (WR). Subhash Gupta, a railway activist, said: “Though this is a welcome move, care must be taken to ensure passengers are not put to inconvenience in any way. It should no create panic situation. Instead of diverting the crowd to the Army bridge, work on creating the additional platform at Parel bridge must be quickened.”
