Mumbai: First-of-its kind meet focuses on women commuters’ safety

All commuter associations from Mumbai and beyond Kalyan were part of the meeting held on Wednesday

Issues faced by women commuters on local trains remained the focus of a first-of-its-kind meeting of all commuter associations from Mumbai and beyond Kalyan held to discuss and iron-out issues faced while commuting. Central Railway (CR) officials from the city assured to look into the problems faced by women on local trains, which includes their safety and security. The meeting also discussed activating various gadgets like talkback device and panic buttons in locals.

Senior leader of BJP Chitra Wagh led the delegation at Mumbai CSMT on Wednesday. "We discussed a host of problems but the focus remained on women's issues. The key areas of discussion were safety and security of women commuters," Wagh said.

"We discussed the death of a woman commuter in a mobile-snatching incident at Kalwa. I raised the issue of blind spots at entry/exit points of Dombivli station, where there is no CCTV coverage, and suggested installing the cameras near tracks to monitor anti-social elements," said Vandana Sonawane, vice president of Maharashtra Railway Mahila Pravasi Mahasanghatna.

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"There were also discussions around installing panic buttons and talkback mechanisms in locals. The railways said they are trying to instal and activate as many as possible," said Subhash H Gupta from Yatri Sangh Mumbai.

"We also discussed extending season tickets and issuing platform tickets to commuters in view of the pandemic, which the railways has assured to look into. Overall, the meeting was quite fruitful," he added.

A CR spokesperson said that the railways has a permanent mechanism to address commuter issues and that they would try and adjust all that were raised at the meeting in the best way possible given the operational limitations in the current times.