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Elphinstone Road disaster: When a city's lifeline crumbles

Elphinstone Road disaster presents a case for augmenting the supporting infrastructure in and around most suburban railway stations

Elphinstone Road and Parel stations foot over bridge
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Policemen at the foot overbridge linking Elphinstone Road and Parel stations in Mumbai, where 22 persons were killed and over 30 got injured on Friday. Photo: reuters

Pankaj Joshi
Public furore over the recent stampede at the Elphinstone Road Station has seen most of the blame directed at the state for criminal dereliction of duty and for ignoring the clearly visible warning signs of a deteriorating public infrastructure. The stampede that claimed 23 lives and injured many others has brought, in its wake, a delayed but opportune moment to rethink, revisualise and revamp our railway infrastructure, which is the city’s lifeline. 

Several theories and analyses have been doing the rounds following the incident that occurred on 29th September 2017, from rumours of a bridge collapse to a short circuit