Mumbai, June 9 (IANS) Former Union Minister and NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday called upon the Central Railway administration to do proper planning of the local train timings and increase the number of trains on important routes accordingly.

The decision to install automatic doors in local trains to prevent such frequent accidents is expected to be implemented in due time. In his reaction after at least four passengers died and nine others injured after they fell on the railway track from the moving Kasara Mumbai suburban train on Monday.

Pawar in his reaction said the Central Railway should take serious note of this unfortunate incident saying that necessary measures should be implemented immediately for the safety of passengers.

“The incident of passengers falling from a train between Diva and Mumbra stations of Central Railway and dying is very unfortunate. I pay my heartfelt tributes to all the innocent passengers. Also, some passengers are undergoing treatment in the hospital. I pray that they recover soon from their injuries. On an average, 6 to 7 passengers die after they fall from a local train on Central Railway every day. This information that has come to light is very worrying. It is well known that the increasing crowd in local trains is the main reason for this,” he said.

He However, added that after such an accident, it is not right to blame the passengers for their deaths. In a related development, the

Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan Dombivli Shrikant Shinde demanded that the railway administration should start fast local trains from Diva to CSMT in order to reduce the crowd in local trains and control accidents.

“There is a demand from railway passengers to start fast local trains from Diva to CSMT, and we will follow up on this demand with the central government,” he assured. Earlier, fast local trains did not stop at Diva, but now fast local trains stop at Diva, he stated.

Shinde, who visited the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa to inquire about the injured, said that a large number of people live in the Kalyan-Karjat area.

“Therefore, it is necessary to increase the number of local trains on this route. There is a frequent demand from passenger organisations to increase the number of local trains. After the Thane-Kalyan fifth and sixth lines were started, the number of local trains increased to some extent, but the fifth and sixth lines need to be extended to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. The railway administration is working on this,” he added.

He hoped that the number of local trains will increase further when this work is completed.

“Work is underway to build the third and fourth lines beyond Kalyan and land is being acquired for this. When the number of local trains increases, it will be easier to manage the crowd. Along with increasing the new lines, it is equally important to convert the 12-car local into 15-car ones, said Shinde.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Harshwardhan Sapkal called for a high level inquiry be conducted into the incident.

“The BJP government wants to complete the bullet train project, Mumbaikars want proper local services, not bullet trains. But the railway administration and the government are playing with the lives of ordinary Mumbaikars, stop this game now,” he said. Sapkal said that for the last eleven years, the people of Maharashtra and Mumbai have been listening to empty talk about infrastructure and the smooth travel of Mumbaikars.

–IANS

sj/pgh