Activist alerted authorities to crack in wall over a year ago
Sulaiman Bhimani repeatedly pointed out the problem to CR, BMC and the local police, who did nothing about it. On Thursday, a partial collapse resulted in rail services being delayed throughout the day.
Central Railway services were disrupted for half an hour on Thursday when the retaining wall along platform No 1 of Sandhurst Road, which had developed a crack some time ago, collapsed near the tracks. Punctuality was hit throughout the day as water and muck kept sliding onto the tracks, and trains were restricted to 20 kmph along the affected section.
Shockingly, for over a year, an activist who spotted the crack in the wall, has been writing to various authorities to get it repaired, but no heed was paid to his warnings.
“I have been requesting the authorities to do the needful to prevent the destruction and chaos that could be caused by a landslide, the collapse of the wall or a building onto a running train during peak hours,” Bhimani told Mirror. He said he had also marked copies of his letters to the Railway minister and the Maharashtra chief minister.
Bhimani, who is also an RTI activist, said that no one bothered to reply to his letters, but for Mayor Sunil Prabhu, who asked the local BMC office to look into the matter. “But that was quite some time ago, and there has been no follow-up action,” Bhimani said.
Bhimani further said that he had sought action against encroachments between the buildings and the wall, under Section 353 of the CrPc, which gives authority to the police to inspect structures.
On Thursday, CR services were affected between 7:10 am and 7:35 am with two trains held up, three diverted to the fast track, and all services for the rest of the day delaying by five to 10 minutes.
“In a way it was a sense of déjà vu, as a huge portion of the same wall had collapsed one morning in 2010, halting trains for over 12 hours. Today’s collapse was not that major, but we had to keep stopping the muck from falling on the track. Because of this, trains had to be slowed down,” a Railway engineer at the site told Mirror.
Atenant of the adjoining MHADA building, 27/C, said that apart from commuters, the lives of residents too were at risk. “If the wall collapses, it weakens the foundations of our buildings,” he said, on condition of anonymity. “Four years ago when part of the wall collapsed, a building at the spot had to be evacuated as it was declared dangerous.”
The wall, in fact, is an example of how the involvement of more than one authority - the Railways and MHADA - has resulted in no one being held responsible to repair or maintain it.
When Mirror contacted CR’s Mumbai Divisional Manager Mukesh Nigam, he said that the area where the wall collapsed technically belongs to MHADA, indicating that repairs of the wall need to be taken up by them.
However, Anand Rayate, MHADA's Chief Officer, Mumbai Slum Improvement Board, denied that the wall belonged to MHADA. “A wall will not belong to us, but I will get the facts checked by local engineers," Rayate said.
Central Railway services were disrupted for half an hour on Thursday when the retaining wall along platform No 1 of Sandhurst Road, which had developed a crack some time ago, collapsed near the tracks. Punctuality was hit throughout the day as water and muck kept sliding onto the tracks, and trains were restricted to 20 kmph along the affected section.
Shockingly, for over a year, an activist who spotted the crack in the wall, has been writing to various authorities to get it repaired, but no heed was paid to his warnings.
An interior designer by profession, Sulaiman Bhimani who regularly travels the stretch, wrote to the Railways, the BMC and the local police station about how the crack and the encroachments along the rail stretch could pose a risk to lives.
“I have been requesting the authorities to do the needful to prevent the destruction and chaos that could be caused by a landslide, the collapse of the wall or a building onto a running train during peak hours,” Bhimani told Mirror. He said he had also marked copies of his letters to the Railway minister and the Maharashtra chief minister.
Bhimani, who is also an RTI activist, said that no one bothered to reply to his letters, but for Mayor Sunil Prabhu, who asked the local BMC office to look into the matter. “But that was quite some time ago, and there has been no follow-up action,” Bhimani said.
Bhimani further said that he had sought action against encroachments between the buildings and the wall, under Section 353 of the CrPc, which gives authority to the police to inspect structures.
On Thursday, CR services were affected between 7:10 am and 7:35 am with two trains held up, three diverted to the fast track, and all services for the rest of the day delaying by five to 10 minutes.
“In a way it was a sense of déjà vu, as a huge portion of the same wall had collapsed one morning in 2010, halting trains for over 12 hours. Today’s collapse was not that major, but we had to keep stopping the muck from falling on the track. Because of this, trains had to be slowed down,” a Railway engineer at the site told Mirror.
Atenant of the adjoining MHADA building, 27/C, said that apart from commuters, the lives of residents too were at risk. “If the wall collapses, it weakens the foundations of our buildings,” he said, on condition of anonymity. “Four years ago when part of the wall collapsed, a building at the spot had to be evacuated as it was declared dangerous.”
The wall, in fact, is an example of how the involvement of more than one authority - the Railways and MHADA - has resulted in no one being held responsible to repair or maintain it.
When Mirror contacted CR’s Mumbai Divisional Manager Mukesh Nigam, he said that the area where the wall collapsed technically belongs to MHADA, indicating that repairs of the wall need to be taken up by them.
However, Anand Rayate, MHADA's Chief Officer, Mumbai Slum Improvement Board, denied that the wall belonged to MHADA. “A wall will not belong to us, but I will get the facts checked by local engineers," Rayate said.
