Make some space for the common man, please?

Demolishing the staircase and asbestos sheets that cover it will open up platform directly onto road

The Central Railway has overloaded Ghatkopar station's platform number one with useless passenger amenities. These are not used and are creating bottlenecks for free movement of passengers that could lead to a stampede, a report in this paper said. Ghatkopar is one of the high-density stations along the route. It also caters to the Metro Railway crowd turning the platform extremely chaotic during rush hours.

A defunct ticket counter and old staircase is eating up space on the already crowded platform, said the report. We need that space to be cleared immediately. In a city where the space crunch is absolutely severe, and even life threatening at times as our infra has proven, every inch is vital. Pushing and shoving on platforms is not just dangerous but also deadly.

The city has ambitious plans of making our stations world class. We appreciate the commuting arm's vision and ambition. Yet, these plans - grand as they may sound - have to be preceded by taking care of the current stations to the best of our ability. This includes removing any and every obstruction from our platforms. Every effort has to be made to facilitate easier flow of people in these spaces.

A heavy rush like we see on most platforms leads to build up of frustration. Our stations are powder kegs that can ignite quickly.

Ease up on Ghatkopar station and work quickly towards dismantling useless facilities. Once demolished, the debris should be moved out as soon as possible, instead of them lying around like we see in other instances.

This would render the demolition of such structures meaningless as the debris would prove an obstruction. Move with will and efficiency, keeping passenger movement and with it safety, paramount.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates