Mumbai stampede: PM Modi, is bullet train really needed, ask Twitter users

Twenty-two commuters were killed in Mumbai on Friday when a horrific stampede broke out on a narrow railway foot overbridge linking Elphinstone Road and Parel stations when hundreds took shelter there to escape pounding rains, officials said.

At least 39 others were injured, some critically, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Disaster Control said after the morning peak hour tragedy struck on the suburban network - the veritable lifeline of the country's commercial capital. Many among the eight million plus daily railway commuters were numbed by the unprecedented tragedy

The festival-eve calamity sparked off angry reactions on social media, with many questioning lapses vis-a-vis safety and security of commuters even as mega-projects like Bullet Trains are announced. While some supported the government's bullet train initiative, others wanted it to first focus on the current infrastructure.

The incident provided fuel to BJP ally Shiv Sena and the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party to attack the proposed Rs 1.08 lakh crore Bullet Train project.

NCP senior leader Jitendra Awhad said the government had promised to fund a Rs 46,000 crore project to overhaul Mumbai's suburban railway network. It was mum on the long-pending suburban elevated rail corridor and instead was focussing on an expensive Bullet Train.

Many Mumbaikars said they had abandoned plans to go on weekend outings or shopping for Dussehra on Saturday.

Appeals came up on the social media to cancel or curtail Friday night's final Navratri celebrations as a mark of respect to the stampede victims.

Here are some Twitter reactions:


Political Reactions






Bullet train supporters