OFFICIALS FEAR ANOTHER FATAL RAIL STATION STAMPEDE IN MUMBAI

Infrastructure at the Andheri rail station in Mumbai is inadequate to handle the number of commuters, inviting a stampede like one at the city’s Elphinstone Road station in 2017 in which 23 people died, according to a note from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to the Western Railway divisional manager obtained by the Mumbai Mirror. The RPF, a security force under the Ministry of Railways entrusted with protecting passengers and Indian Railways property, observes that foot overbridges (FoB), an escalator and staircases at Andheri are too narrow and weak to support the crunch of approximately 680,000 people daily. Despite there being 18 security staffers on hand to guide FoB traffic, the slightest incident, such as a spark falling from overhead wires, could lead to tragedy, the RPF says, stating that installation of additional FoBs, skywalks, staircases and escalators is “urgent.”