Central Railway shut two major bridges at the switch-over station for repairs with no contingency plan in place
Kurla station was a scene of chaos on Tuesday morning as two bridges, one with the BMC and the other with railways were shut overnight, sending commuters into a frenzy. Both the bridges were shut without adequate preparedness and prior notice to the public.
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Some order was restored by evening rush hour after mid-day got the Central Railway general manager Devendra Sharma and local Assistant Municipal Commissioner to intervene.
The closing of bridges caused much inconvenience to peak-hour commuters at the station
With foot-over bridges being in the news for all the wrong reasons, the railways decided to close these bridges for repairs. Most commuters realised only after climbing the railway bridge that its access to the Harbour line platform had been completely blocked, forcing them to alight and take another bridge.
Commuters said that the RPF and the station staff should have at least sanitised the station before doing all this as the urchins and beggars sleeping across the station make it difficult for commuters to navigate across platforms.
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The Kurla East-West bridge shut for work
CR officials intervene
Central Railway general manager Devendra Sharma at Kurla personally intervened in the matter after he was informed of the chaos and asked senior railway officials to set things right. "We will arrange for advance signage to advise passengers about the issue. RPF will also be deployed to inform passengers," he told mid-day. After directives by Sharma, the RPF at Kurla got to work and posted staff to guide passengers and also began announcements at the station.
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The Kurla subway is flooded with drain water
BMC bridge shut, too
The East-West bridge declared distressed too was shut for the public, urging them to use the subway instead. The subway is, however, in a bad shape with no adequate lights making it unsafe. It is also flooded with drain water.
"The bridge is shut without taking into considerations the ground realities," passenger association member Subhash Gupta said. It was only after locals and commuters complained of the poor subway situation, that Assistant Municipal Commissioner L ward Manish Walunju alerted his staff to arrange for water pumps and tankers to drain out water from the subway.
Also Read: Mumbai: BMC steps in to fix Kurla railway station mess
Slab collapses at Bhandup station
Commuters at Bhandup station complained late Monday night that a small portion of a slab had fallen off the old bridge at the station. The bridge is in the process of being dismantled. The Central Railway, however, was not able to confirm or deny this.
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