HC raps Railways for not raising height of platforms

The Bombay High Court today rapped Central as well as Western Railway for its failure to increase the height of platforms in suburban train stations.
"In which part of the world is there such a situation, where citizens fall between the gap of a train footboard and station platform and suffer injuries or lose their lives?" a division bench headed by Justice A S Oka said while hearing a public interest litigation on the issue of better facilities for commuters.
The court has directed the General Managers of Central and Western Railway to submit an undertaking by next week indicating the time required to complete the work of raising the height of platforms in all railway stations.

The court said if the undertaking is not submitted, then it would contemplate taking appropriate action.
The court was today informed that out of the 144 railway stations in the city the height of only 64 has been raised.
The judges also pointed out that the situation in Navi Mumbai was miserable as the railways was asking CIDCO to raise the height of the platforms and provide facilities like railing on foot over bridges, low-height ticket windows and toilets for handicapped.
"Both the agencies seem to be shifting the blame on each other. It has been almost four years that we (court have been passing orders but there has been no implementation. If the railway is collecting fare from the passengers, then why should CIDCO provide the facilities?" the court said.