Brand new wall at Kalwa broken for track short-cut

The broken wall at Mumbra Retibunder along the new Kalwa-Diva lines

Just two weeks after opening, the concrete wall constructed around the new Kalwa-Diva lines, have been breached by the miscreants, to create a shortcut to cross over the tracks. "As the line proceeds from Vitawa towards Kalwa, the new wall has been systematically smashed along the fast line near an abandoned factory, and space has been made for one person to walk through.

This can be dangerous as the wall is very close to the new fast line stretch," Ranjeet Jaiswal, a commuter and resident of Vitawa said. "The railways need to increase patrolling along these stretches as there are a lot of hutments and slums along the entire corridor. The abandoned factory between the two rail lines of Thane-Airoli and Thane-Kalwa is isolated and could become a hub for illegal activity," another commuter Dinesh Gangal said.

People seen crossing the railway tracks after coming through the broken wall at Retibunder in Mumbra

Another location, where there are openings in the wall, is near the Mumbra Retibunder stretch. The local inhabitants cross over the tracks to reach the highway. Locals have been demanding a bridge or a subway at the location because of the increased speeds of trains after the opening of the new section. Central Railway said they will look into the matter on priority. "We will step up action and increase patrolling along the stretch," Shivaji Sutar, Central Railway's chief public relations manager, said.

The railways is already struggling to battle slum dwellers on railway land. As reported by mid-day last month, slum dwellers were slapped with eviction notices to clear railway land. In the Mumbai division of Central and Western Railway, there are around 25,000 unauthorised structures on railway land, occupying nearly 57 hectares of land, including in the safety zone and where future expansion projects are planned. As per official details, on CR, around 13,839 structures are occupying 37.29 hectares of land and on WR, the number of illegal structures stands at 10,572.

25,000
No. of unauthorised structures on railway land