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Amritsar accident aftermath: Pune railways goes all out to clear encroachments from tracks
As per the Railway authorities in Pune, on the day before the incident in Amritsar, the Central railways issued eviction notices to 55 slum hutments near Pimpri station.
Following the rail tragedy on Dusshera, October 18, where at least 61 people were killed and 72 injured after a train from Jalandhar to Amritsar ran through a crowd that had spilt onto the railway tracks while watching the burning of a Ravana effigy in Choura bazaar near Joda phatak, the Pune railway authorities are working hard to ensure the railway line running through the city suffers no such disaster.
Pune is a busy railway corridor and an important junction for long-distance trains.
As per the Railway authorities in Pune, on the day before the incident in Amritsar, the Central railways issued eviction notices to 55 slum hutments near Pimpri station.
“Construction of a boundary wall along the tracks has also begun,” Manoj Jhawar, PRO, Central railways, Pune division, claimed.
According to Jhawar, “A survey has been conducted on the number of encroachments along the railway tracks which could be dangerous, especially when women and children often use the tracks to ease themselves, as well as to wash clothes and utensils.
“We have identified slums at Pimpri, Chinchwad, Akurdi and Talegaon stations as black spots on the route between Pune and Lonavla. Specifically, Nagsen nagar near Akurdi and Dalvi nagar, a little ahead of Chinchwad station, as slums closest to the railway track.”
“We have also created dugouts near the tracks and barricaded the end of the platforms on five stations so that passengers have to use the foot over bridge (FOB),” added Jhavar.
“I travel very often by train to Mumbai for work and found it convenient to cross the tracks instead of using the FOB. It is mainly to save time,” said Randhir Naidu, a resident of Pune.
HT’s spot visit reveals
Hindustan Times visited some of the black spots as pointed out by the Central railways and found that despite encroachment notices, slum dwellers, for example in Dalvi nagar, near Chinchwad station, had constrcuted a Navaratri mandap close to the tracks. People were sitting on the tracks and clothes were laid out to dry as well.
The boundary wall at Nagsen nagar near Akurdi station was already broken to create a pathway leading towards the tracks.
Krishna Yellappa, one of the slum dwellers,said, “We have been living near the track for five years and we used to earlier go beyond the tracks for our morning rituals. Now we have got public toilets built so we are using that,” he said. Yellappa is in Pune to work as a labourer on the Kranti Veer Chapekar flyover in PCMC.
