Mumbai: Flawed bridge at Dombivli station demolished

The faulty staircase being dismantled at Dombivli station on Monday

Heeding complaints of commuters about an unusually steep staircase of a recently built foot overbridge at Dombivli station, the Central Railway has constructed a new landing and begun dismantling the faulty one. In its January 6 edition, mid-day had front-paged the risks posed by the sharp slope, which was termed a design flaw by rail users. The steps on the staircase at the Kalyan-end were too challenging for senior citizens to climb and alight, they said.

The new FoB came up after sustained follow-ups by this newspaper since 2019. In October of that year, mid-day had reported the potential harm to commuters and trains due to an old and rickety bridge, which stood there. The report prompted the railways to pull it down immediately. A new six-metre-wide FoB with three spans linking west and the skywalk in the east was constructed by August 2020.

However, in January 2021, commuters, particularly senior citizens, said using the staircase was tiring due to the high gradient and one could topple while getting down.

Seeking to downplay the concerns then, Central Railway engineers had said it was not a design flaw, but there was too little space for the landing as the bridge has a direct approach to the main road. The railways had also said that it would provide an additional railing in the middle of the staircase for support.

Officials said they decided to divert the staircase landing to a small garden, which was meant for beautification of the premises, to solve the problem once and for all. The new staircase was completed by February-end and opened to the commuters, said officials. The faulty staircase is being dismantled.

Central Railway senior public relations officer Anil Kumar Jain said, "The old staircase had caused some of the steps to rise from 150mm to 172mm and it was uncomfortable to climb them. Hence, taking commuter concerns into consideration, an active solution was found promptly," he said.

Resident and commuter Mandar Abhyankar called it a victory for citizens and commuters.

Pending work, roof incomplete
When mid-day visited the site on Monday, all the works of the bridge, including the wide new staircase had been opened and the demolition of the old staircase was on. The portion of the roof on platform 3-4 that had been removed for the construction of the bridge is yet to be rebuilt. Commuters said it could be problematic if not fixed before the monsoon.

Elevator a garbage dump
This correspondent also found that the lift linked to the new bridge had become a garbage dump on the ground floor with its entry blocked. As the elevator remains unusable, a number of citizens are forced to take the staircase. The station also does not have a ramp in this or the adjoining foot overbridge.

Hawkers take over
Despite being a new bridge, hawkers have taken over it, forcing commuters to negotiate through them. Being linked to the municipal skywalk at both ends, the railway bridge provides easy and quick escape routes to the illegal vendors in case of police action.

6 mtrs
Width of the new FoB at Dombivli station