THANE: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Wednesday lodged an FIR against three women commuters who, one day earlier, had prevented other female commuters from boarding the 7.51 am Karjat-CSMT fast train when it reached Badlapur. The accused bolted the door of the first-class compartment to prevent others from getting in.
According to railway officials, the three women were called for questioning after a case under Sections 145 and 146 of the Railway Act was registered against them. The female RPF team entered the same train compartment on Wednesday, identified the women and made them get down at Ambarnath station. “We have booked the women under the Railway Act, and further action will be taken as per the law,” said Central Railway CPRO, Shivraj Manaspure.
However, when the next Karjat-CSMT train arrived at 8.25 am, the same thing happened in the general compartment, with male commuters shutting the doors. Since the RPF and Government Railway Police (GRP) had enough bandobast (personnel) at the station, they warned the commuters that action would be taken against them. The commuters then opened the doors, allowing Badlapur commuters to board the train.
The population of the region from Kalyan to Karjat has grown seven to eight times since the 2011 census, but railway services have remained static, leading to overcrowding and increased friction between groups of passengers. “I have been living in Badlapur since 2002 and travelling by train all these years,” said Sanjay Mestri, head of the Badlapur Railway Association Committee. “The commuter population at this station has increased fivefold in the last five years. Unfortunately, women’s compartments have remained the same size and there are no special trains for them during peak hours. We have been requesting Central Railway to increase train frequency, run women’s specials or arrange trains from Kalyan to Kasara and Karjat. But all our demands go unheard.”
{{/usCountry}}The population of the region from Kalyan to Karjat has grown seven to eight times since the 2011 census, but railway services have remained static, leading to overcrowding and increased friction between groups of passengers. “I have been living in Badlapur since 2002 and travelling by train all these years,” said Sanjay Mestri, head of the Badlapur Railway Association Committee. “The commuter population at this station has increased fivefold in the last five years. Unfortunately, women’s compartments have remained the same size and there are no special trains for them during peak hours. We have been requesting Central Railway to increase train frequency, run women’s specials or arrange trains from Kalyan to Kasara and Karjat. But all our demands go unheard.”
{{/usCountry}}Mestri demanded to know why a government that doled out permissions for excessive construction and development in the city so easily could not make other public facilities available when requested. “We have been fighting for a long time,” he said. “Women, especially, are really struggling. Every woman commuter is travelling to her college or workplace, and the population just keeps going up. What is being done for their safe travel?
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