Wednesday 19 February 2014

Editorial on Mumbai's locals and the safety of its commuters

Lifeline or deathline of Mumbai?

After reading about the detachment of the coaches in a 12 car Kalyan bound speeding train, it has brought jitters to the entire city of Mumbai. It is said that the locals are the 'lifeline' of Mumbai, but after looking at the present scenario, it should be called the 'deathline' of Mumbai.
There are almost 75 lakh commuters in the train daily. All the trains should be made of a strong metal, like steel, which may not get rusted or damaged that easily. But unfortunately, not all the trains in the Central line are made of steel. Those trains that have become very old are still running as long as the body of the train is perfect. But, who must have thought about the detachment of coaches? It is likely that they were ignored for a long time since they were not giving problems earlier. Since most of the trains on the Western line are made of steel, the trains running on the Central line should also be made of steel so that no such incidents occur in the near future. But, since there have been no deaths in this case, the railway authorities wouldn't react with much concern for the commuters. Until and unless there is no 'example' set, the railway authorities won't take charge of the problem. There are gaps in between platforms and footboards, where many peoples' feet have got amputated. This is because of the unequal proportion of the height between the footboard and the platform. Also, the foot overbridges should be maintained as there are many bridges that have become weak and cannot hold the weight of so many people. The pantographs that are above the trains should be kept under maintenance as, if any of them break, it will be a cause for the loss of many Mumbai-ites. So, the railway officials should keep the safety of the people in their minds first, before taking any further step.