On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court said seeing passengers forced to travel like animals in the suburban rail service and Mumbai’s lifeline was shameful. Hearing a PIL over the increasing number of passengers’ deaths due to falling from overcrowded trains or other accidents on tracks, the court said this “severe” issue must be dealt with.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar said it would hold top officials of both Central and Western Railways accountable as the “situation in Mumbai is pathetic.” Yatin Jadhav filed the PIL.
“A severe issue has been raised in the PIL; therefore, you (railway authorities) must look into it. You cannot say we cannot do this or that because of the large number of people (in the city). You transport people like cattle. We feel ashamed of the way passengers travel,” the court said. The bench directed the general managers of Western and Central Railways to ‘look into the entire matter’ and file a counter affidavit. The court said it would hear the PIL next after eight weeks. According to the petition, 2,590 passengers died on the tracks in 2023; that is, seven deaths every day. 2,441 people were injured during the same period.
1,650 people died in accidents on the tracks under the Central Railway, while 940 people died on the section under the Western Railway.
