Every monsoon reveals flaws in the public transport system, experts note lessons to be learnt
No doubt it rained heavily on Tuesday, but the government bodies — be it Indian Railways or the state and BMC-run transport bodies and their unions — failed at crisis management. Experts state that the government failed to mitigate disasters and there was little coordination.
The railways aren't directly part of BMC's disaster management cell. Their train management system (TMS) enables them to monitor train movement. "We monitor from our control room on a real-time basis. This helps us keep a check on all technical failures," said a railway official. However, it takes little input of the situation outside — namely the number of people heading to stations.
Some railway officials agree that the TMS should also be used to see how many train services are needed at the time of disaster.
Though transport experts claim that this doesn't solve the problem. "Little coordination was seen between the state government agencies, BMC and railways over the last two days. The BMC's disaster control system needs to be merged with that of railways so that there are ample inputs while handling a disaster. No doubt it rained heavily, yet the authorities blame it as the sole reason for mismanagement," said Gautam Damani, transport expert and rail activist.
Both Central and Western Railways struggled to run services, and not just because of waterlogging and heavy rains. The passenger information system was rarely making announcements about the situation. However, social media played a vital role in spreading information to the public.
One of the primary reasons for waterlogging is the accumulation of garbage on the culverts, drainage system and gutters passing along the rail tracks. The railways claim that they have removed more than 15,000-odd sacks of garbage that was thrown along the tracks pre-monsoon. "It is the joint responsibility of railways, BMC and even people to ensure they don't throw garbage. They should ensure that action is taken against people who litter on rail premises," said Subhash Gupta, President, Rail Yatri Parishad.
Road transport too needs proper monitoring as taxis, autos and mobile aggregators overcharged and refused fares as per their whims. More than 90 per cent taxis and auto rickshaws didn't ply on August 29, while those who plied took advantage of the situation. "Whenever we receive complaints about these drivers, we take action," said Praveen Gedam, Transport Commissioner.
...& ANALYSIS
- Despite all modes of transport being available for lakhs of Mumbaikars, lack of coordination makes the system feeble during disasters.
- People run clueless while authorities look after their forts. An unified transport body that will augment the system is needed.
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