Army to build FOB at Elphinstone Road railway station

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, October 31

The Indian Army has been roped in to build foot-over bridges at the Elphinstone Road railway station where 23 people died in a stampede more than a month ago, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told reporters here.

Fadnavis along with Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited the Elphinstone Road railway station with engineers from the Indian Army this morning.

Fadnavis told reporters that the new foot-over bridge (FoB) would be completed by January 31 next year.

The Army will also build foot-over-bridges at the Currey Road and Ambivali railway stations on the Central Railway, Fadnavis added. While Currey Road station lies in Mumbai city limits, Ambivali lies between Kalyan and Kasara on the outskirts of the city.

Earlier, the railways had floated a tender for the construction of a foot-over bridge at Elphinstone Road railway station. However, Goyal who had a meeting with railway officials was told that the new bridge would take a year to complete.

“We have decided to use the military …. as there is an urgent need to complete the bridges at the earliest. The three stations have been identified as they record very high footfalls,” Goyal told reporters.

Sitharaman said this was the first time that the army has been called in for carrying out civil work in the country's financial capital.

“The army conducted a feasibility study to assess whether they could complete the work and contribute to the process earlier this month,” Sitharaman told reporters here.

A safety audit conducted by high-ranking railway officials at major train stations have pointed out to severe short-comings on both the Central and Western railway lines.

Officials say, Goyal has asked the officials to take remedial measures on a war-footing.