The Bombay High Court today asked the Central and Western Railways to consider setting up a special team for providing medical assistance to accident victims in view of rise in the number of mishaps on tracks.
This would go a long way in providing immediate help to the victims, said the bench of Justices V M Kanade and Revati Mohite-Dere.
The Union Government and the Railways may make a provision for such a special team in the budget, court said.
The HC was hearing a PIL filed by the activist Samir Zaveri, who has lost both the legs in a railway accident, on the issue of safety of suburban train passengers in Mumbai.
The HC suggested the government should tie up with private hospitals located near the stations so that injured persons can be moved there and given treatment in the 'golden hour' (the first one hour after the injury).
However, Zaveri said private hospitals often don't admit victims of railway accidents for reasons best known to them.
Counsel for the Railways, Suresh Kumar, said enough steps had been taken to ensure safety during the train travel and on the tracks but still the accidents occurred. He also submitted a report about measures taken to curb accidents.
To a question whether painkillers are given to accident victims immediately, Kumar said first aid boxes are available with all the station masters.
The Railways were planning to set up emergency medical rooms at those stations where more than 100 accidents have occurred, the lawyer said.
To begin with, ten such emergency medical rooms would be established at stations including Bandra, Andheri and Borivali in the city.
The Railway authorities submitted that certain measures
had been taken, such as construction of foot-over bridges and escalators, and barricades between the tracks.
Petitioner's lawyer Pradeep Havnur said the Railways should constantly update its website to provide details of accident victims so that relatives of the victims get the information quickly.
The court said a separate division for updating the website should be set up to help the accident victims.
The Railways lawyer also informed that emergency medical services (a doctor and ambulance) are provided up to Virar on western line as of now (the local service is up to Dahanu, beyond Virar).
The hearing was adjourned for four weeks as the HC wanted to study the report submitted by the Railways on preventive steps.
The bench had earlier asked the court commissioners to make surprise visits to the stations to check the facilities and submit a report. It too was submitted today.
