JANUARY 11: The Bombay High Court will soon direct Western and Central railway authorities to set up a body to periodically inspect availability of medical facilities on the suburban section. Expressing deep concern at the lack of first-aid, medically trained personnel and allied infrastructure on suburban stations, the division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ashok Agarwal and Justice A P Shah said once the authorities present the data, the court will lay down the minimum medical facilities that each railway station should have.The division bench today heard two petitions, one filed by Citizens for a Just Society (CJS) and the other by Kamayani Bali Mahabal. The Mumbai Suburban Railway Passengers Association, which today filed its application for intervention, has pointed out several mishaps on suburban section where the victims died because they could not be provided medical aid in time. The petitioners have also voiced their concern for the safety of 59 lakh suburban commuters whose lives are endangeredby stone-throwing incidents that are a direct fall out of encroachments on railway land.According to CJS counsel, B K Subbarao, the Indian Railway Act empowers the authorities to remove encroachments and trespassers from railway land. However, he said, these powers have not been used by the railways in Mumbai and the result is encroachments have now become a threat for commuter safety.According to Mahabal's counsel Maharukh Adenwala, commuters die unattended on the tracks or platforms since there is no effective means to transport them to the nearest hospital. The railway stations do not have any trained doctors to save the lives of accident victims.The High Court today asked the railway authorities to file their affidavits by January 13 explaining their stance on removal of encroachments.
