Stampede at Elphinstone Road Station: Pune worries about Mumbai-like tragedy on its own railway bridge

The foot overbridge, which starts at the main entrance and leads to each of the six platforms, as well as the exit on the other side, is packed during the morning and evening rush hours. Incidents of pick-pocketing and harassment of passengers on the FOB have been reported earlier.

Meanwhile, the two other FOBs at the station, including the one inaugurated last year, remain under-utilised.
One

FOB near the parcel office connect platforms 1 to 6, but few passengers use it as a large number of parcel bundles often block the way of passengers. The second one, built last year, connects only three platforms and is not used much by passengers.

For a long time, passengers have been demanding that the width of the main FOB be increased, as it is used by approximately 60,000-80,000 passengers every day. Most of the express trains arrive at and depart from platform numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5, leaving passengers with no option but to use the FOB.

Harsha Shah of the Railway Pravasi Group, an organisation that fights for the rights of passengers, said there was an urgent need to widen the old FOB, to prevent tragedies like the stampede at Elphinstone station.

“Of the three FOBs, only the old one built in the 19th century is popular among passengers. The one near the parcel office is hardly used because it’s difficult for passengers to reach it, as most of the time, the approach road is blocked by parcel bundles. The other one has failed to attract passengers as it connects only three platforms. The only solution is to widen the old flyover,” said Shah.

On Friday, as news about the Elphinstone Road Station stampede broke, many railway passengers in Pune took to social media to raise an alarm.

“Please open your eyes, (I have) alerted you many times about Pune station FoB… Please be proactive… are you waiting for a tragedy to happen,” Prashant Dharamthok wrote on Twitter, tagging the divisional railway manager of Pune in his post.

Several passengers complained that during rush hours, Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, who are supposed to manage the crowd on the FOB, are nowhere to be seen. But railway officials maintained that RPF personnel are deployed at the FOB.

“We have deputed RPF staff on the bridge, especially during peak hours, from 3 pm to 7.30 pm. The overcrowding happens as passengers wait on the FoB due to confusion about the platform they have to go to for their trains… to address this issue, we have already set up a display board at the entry of the FOB, on the Raja Bahadur Mill Road side… we also monitor the situation on the FoB with CCTVs,” said Manoj Jhanvar, public relations officer, Pune division. Jhanvar also said that the work of building a new FOB, which will be connected to the old one, has started.

“This FOB will also have two escalators, one on platform no. 6 and another on platform no. 1. It will also have a lift, which will take the passenger to platform no. 2, 3, 4 and 5. Apart from this, a skywalk is also on the cards, which will connect all the FOBs from Raja Bahadur Mills Road,” he said.