There seems to be no end to the problem of overbridges collapsing at railway stations in Mumbai and the unclear fixing of responsibility. In the latest incident, a portion of the foot overbridge of the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus station in south Mumbai collapsed on Thursday evening killing at least six people and injuring 31.
The nearly 50 metre structure was built in the 1980s by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and as one of the three points of entry to the station it sees a daily footfall of over 10,000. Typically, the Railways and the BMC have been at odds over which of the two is really accountable. If future similar accidents are to be avoided, there will have to be clear-cut fixing of responsibility and due accountability.
Investigators are now looking into whether the weight of 60 utility cables laid under the three-metre wide bridge affected its stability. After an earlier incident in Ahmedabad in 2015, the report of the inquiry committee had also asked the Western Railway to remove unauthorised cables passing under overbridges.
With the benefit of hindsight experts say had the Railways and BMC, which conducted a safety audit of the Andheri bridge last year, looked into the recommendations of the 2015 report and acted on it, the collapse could have been prevented.
This time around, a proper, durable solution must be found. The review of foot overbridges must be done on a war footing in Mumbai stations. he structural part of the bridge is maintained by the Railways, but the surface of the bridge is maintained by the civic body. Such confusion must end. Multiplicity of authorities must be avoided and clearcut responsibilities
