WR acts on filthy Bandra rail line

Over the decades, the slum dwellers have regularly dumped garbage and filth on and along the rail lines, which, apart from being a health hazard, has damaged rail infrastructure

MUMBAI: One of the most notorious stretches along the Bandra railway tracks’ east side is finally being fenced off from the illegal slums bordering it. Over the decades, the slum dwellers have regularly dumped garbage and filth on and along the rail lines, which, apart from being a health hazard, has damaged rail infrastructure.

Following constant complaints of garbage being dumped along tracks by illegal slumdwellers in Bandra East, the WR has began identifying the stretch and installing the fence on February 28. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

According to WR officials, the work of identifying the stretch and installing metal barricades began from February 28. In the last two days, railway engineers expedited the process after finishing the preliminary work of marking the location of the three-metre-tall fence.

Pits for the foundation poles are currently being dug. Digging work on 48 of the 50 pits is over, and foundations have been laid in 33 pits. “The fencing is being installed along a stretch of 150 metres parallel to the Harbour line at Bandra East,” said a WR official. “We have finished work on 37 metres.”

The slums near Bandra East station are long-standing, densely packed, and expanding, particularly along the Harbour line and towards Bandra Terminus. The railways have been struggling to remove them but always failed since the slum dwellers are vote banks for political parties, said sources, adding that the authorities decided to take up the work after a foreign tourist posted the condition of the tracks on social media.

Recently the WR authorities also replaced the garbage-damaged concrete sleepers at a cost of ₹8-10 crore. The sleepers were changed to enhance the life of railway assets, which, however, are difficult to maintain, given the filth thrown on the tracks by slum dwellers.

“But now the fence will prevent slum dwellers not only from throwing garbage but also from trespassing on the tracks,” said the WR official.