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Journalism of Courage
Sixtyeight-year-old Suryakant Naik, who was hit by an Ambarnath-bound fast train near Sandhurst Road railway station on Thursday, was going to catch ‘Nagpur Duronto Express’ at 7.55 pm from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) after attending Tulsi Vivah at Iskcon temple on Mira Road. Naik thought he would miss his train as he waited for almost an hour. When he learnt that the train would not move due to strike, he got off and started walking on the railway track as others were doing the same, said Naik’s son in-law Rahul Soni.
“It was not his fault, he died because of the mismanagement of the railways whose employees resorted to a strike without any prior intimation to the commuters and stopped the train for almost an hour. His trolley bag is still missing,” said Soni. Naik, who retired as a bank manager a few years ago, came to Mumbai on Monday to attend Tulsi Vivah at Iskcon temple on Mira Road. He stayed for four days at Iskcon’s hotel and was returning to Nagpur on Thursday, said Soni. Naik changed the train at Dadar so that he could easily reach CSMT. “Though I had advised him to take a cab from Churchgate station to SCMT, he did not listen,” said a relative of Naik.
Naik’s son Ankit came along with few relatives and took his body to Nagpur for last rites.
The parents of 19-year-old Hailey Momaya, who also died in the same accident, blamed the railways and also sought ‘immediate action’ against railway employees who resorted to strike, leading to a halt of the train service on Central Railway. Hailey’s paternal aunt Khushbu sustained fractures to her hand and was shifted to Nair Hospital as she was advised for an MRI. “Hailey was doing her first year BA at Somaiya College and was heading to South Mumbai for some work along with Khushbu,” said a relative at the hospital. Hailey’s father Priyesh Momaya works in the share market and lives in Matunga. Both got off the train to take a cab from outside the station as the train was not moving, said a GRP official.
Hailey’s father Priyesh said, “There should be an FIR against the protesters. Till now, there has been no help from the railways, neither medical nor any compensation. I lost my daughter. My sister Khusubu too suffered injuries in the accident. She is currently in Wockhardt Hospital at Mumbai Central.”
Two other victims–62-year-old Yafiza Chougule and her son Kaif, 22–who suffered severe injuries after both were hit by the same train, are currently recuperating at Balaji Hospital in Byculla. “Yafiza is still unconscious and in the ICU while Kaif suffered a fracture on his back and shoulder and was advised for an MRI. The family lives in Mumbra and Yafiza’s parents and brothers live on Sandhurst Road. They were coming to meet them,” said Kaif’s elder brother Saif.
“After waiting in the stalled train for nearly 50 minutes, we decided to walk as it was hardly 200 metres from the railway station where the train halted. My mother had undergone hip replacement surgery and so she could not stand or sit for a long time. I helped her to get off the train and while we were walking on the railway track, suddenly a train came from CSMT,” said Kaif. “I dragged my mother out of the track but we were hit by the train. She fell in the nallah and suffered severe injuries on her head and got 25 stitches. I was thrown a few metres away and suffered severe back injuries,” added Kaif.
Kaif claimed that after a few seconds, he gained consciousness and called his brother who then informed his relatives and friends in Nagpada and Sandhurst Road about the incident.
The incident occurred around 6.50 pm and when the family started shouting at RPF and GRP, they came after half an hour with stretchers and took them to JJ hospital. “My mother was just lying unconscious on the bed for almost an hour. We decided to shift her to a private hospital as there was no facility in the JJ hospital,” said elder son Saif. As of now, no one has approached the railway or government to ensure free treatment or any compensation, added Saif.
The GRP at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) has registered a case of accidental death in connection with the incident and said they have been probing the incident.
The flash strike was launched in protest against GRP registering an FIR on November 1 against two Central Railway engineers and senior officials for alleged negligence that led to a fatal accident in Mumbra in June in which five persons died. Soon after the FIR, unions had described the FIR an “unfair action” by the GRP. Passengers were left in the lurch as trains were halted at CSMT around 5.30 pm, and protesters with CRMS and NFIR banners staged a sit-in outside senior officials’ offices demanding withdrawal of the FIR.
“The members of the National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) protested at 3pm and they left but the members of Central Railway Mazdoor Union (CRMS) protested outside the DRM office. They came to protest outside the motormen’s waiting room at 5.30pm and they locked the room from outside between 5.40 pm to 6.30 pm and did not allow the motormen to come out of the room,” said senior inspector Shambhaji Katare of CSMT GRP. The strike caused chaos across Central Railway stations, triggering overcrowding at CSMT, Byculla and Sandhurst Road. With no announcements initially, confused commuters deboarded halted trains and began walking on the tracks. Services resumed at 6.30 pm, said a GRP official.
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