From May 1, 2019, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) will become a no hawking, no crime and no begging zone. This is a part of the Central Railway campaign to create model stations across the country.
Since CSMT is a UNESCO World Heritage site and Central Railway’s headquarters, CSMT is going to be the first station in India to achieve the no hawking, no crime and no begging zone. A team of specials is being formed to work 24×7 which will be monitored through CCTV surveillance at the station premises.
The team will be seen in plain clothes tracking down drug addicts and train bullies. The amount of pick-pocketing has increased from six to eight in a day at CSMT. From January 2019 to March 2019, at least nine cases of robbery including 400 cases of theft and a case of passengers being drugged, assaulted, molested and kidnapped.
The Central Railway’s senior divisional security commissioner KK Ashraf said they are very confident on achieving this target by 1st May. He told Mumbai Mirror that, “We have identified stations vulnerable to criminal activities and anti-social elements. Some of these stations are CSMT, the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Thane, Kalyan, and Panvel. The blueprint to curb crime at stations is ready and we’ll start from CSMT.”
The RPF will be heavily involved along with GRP and the teams for round-the-clock surveillance. However, almost 40% of the criminals have been brought down at CSMT since the last year.
