Bhandup accident brings to focus ‘station road’ problem in Mumbai

The BEST bus accident that led to four deaths in Bhandup area. (PTI Photo)

The bus accident that led to four deaths in Bhandup area near the railway station was not the first one that took place on a station road in Mumbai. While congestion on the roads is a phenomenon across the city, on a “station road” that connects the city to the railway station, it is extreme with hawkers, bus stops, depots, autorickshaw stands, shared auto stands and large crowds pouring out of trains every few minutes.

In June 2018, a BEST bus reversing outside the Kurla railway station ran over Amrin Shaikh (22) as she got stuck between two BEST buses stationed at the depot outside the railway station.

Residents of Bhandup area where the accident took place on Monday have been complaining for long about the congestion with autorickshaws and buses not even having space to take a turn outside the railway station.

In the Monday incident, police said casualties would have been much higher had the driver not turned the bus to the right.

Railway activist Sameer Zaveri said that it is an open secret that the action against hawkers is superficial as in most cases, officials at local levels are bribed. “The government is aware about the passenger footfall at stations such as Kurla, Dadar and Thane. They have to ensure safe movement of passengers at the railway stations and outside,” Zaveri said.

Usually, the state and railways bicker about jurisdiction, he said, adding, “They should jointly look into this and it is not very difficult to do.”

Bhandup resident Datta Revankar said, “Forget going by a vehicle, even to walk out from Bhandup station and reach the main LBS road is a frustrating experience. Autorickshaws and buses are constantly honking and the footpaths are taken over by hawkers. It is disorienting.”

According to experts, while there are no specific guidelines for designing roads outside congested spaces like railway stations, streets are planned as per the norms laid down in the Indian Road Congress. The government has over the years built skywalks outside railway stations but they have not completely solved the issue in light of massive crowding, especially during peak hours.

Vivek Pai, an urban planner who has designed master plans for several railway stations, including Thane and Kalyan, said, “Indian Road Congress lays down specifications for types of roads. Besides these, we also carry out demand forecasting for each road to project the footfall and the load on a certain road before planning it.”

“In case of roads outside railway stations, we also consult with the local authorities besides the Railways to gauge the desired carrying capacity of these roads,” added Pai.

However, local residents as well as experts echoed that encroachments along the footpaths have emerged as the biggest impediment for pedestrians. With roads outside railway stations clogged with encroachments, pedestrians are forced on to the road where they have to negotiate with vehicles for space.

Responding to questions, BMC officials said that removal of encroachments poses challenges owing to the absence of a Town Vending Committee.

“We keep on carrying out regular encroachment removal drives but the hawkers come back again. One of the biggest reasons for this is the lack of implementation of the Town Vending Committee, which was stalled due to court matters. Since there has been no survey, we do not know the names of actual legal and illegal hawkers making their removal a big challenge for us,” a senior BMC official told The Indian Express.