Elphinstone Road stampede: Prabhu’s office denies allegations against minister

Says he took prompt action on MP's letter to expedite sanction, tender for foot over-bridge

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

The office of the commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu termed the Elphinstone Road Station Foot Over Bridge (FOB) stampede incident in Mumbai, which left 22 dead and over 30 injured , as “unfortunate”, but said Mr. Prabhu, as the railway minister had taken “prompt action” on the letter he received from Member of Parliament Arvind Ganpat Sawant in late-2015 demanding a new FOB at the site after citing safety concerns due to the heavy rush.

Rejecting allegations that ‘delay’ and ‘negligence’ on the part of Mr. Prabhu was among the reasons that caused the accident, sources in Mr. Prabhu’s office told

The Hindu that it was due to his initiative that the tendering process for Works Contract in Indian Railways was shifted online with the objective of enhancing transparency and fast-tracking the same.

They said efforts were taken by Mr. Prabhu to expedite the opening up of the tender for five new FOBs, including one at Elphistone Road of 12 meter width. The sanction for the new FOBs has been granted and the tender will be opened on November 9, they added. While Mr. Prabhu did not directly respond, an official in his office said, “The minister is very saddened at the loss of several innocent lives and had offered his deep condolences to the bereaved families.”

The sources said Mr. Prabhu had received the letter from Mr. Sawant in late-2015, but could reply only on February 20, 2016 as the FOB project (widening, repair and building of a new one and extension of railway platforms) cost was estimated to be around Rs 12 crore, and therefore, needed Parliamentary approval. They said any project costing over Rs 2 crore has to go through such a procedure.

Soon after learning about the Parliamentary in-principle nod, Mr. Prabhu, in his reply to Mr. Sawant on February 20, 2016 stated that though the Indian Railways has been going through “challenging times” due to the “adverse effects of the global slowdown”, the proposal for a new FOB at Elphinstone Road and the extension of railway platforms there (in Mr. Sawant’s constituency) were “under active consideration.” Thereafter, on February 26 that year, sanction was granted for the project, they said.

Pointing out that earlier, for most projects, it used to take around three years for the tender to be opened after granting of the sanction, the sources said Mr. Prabhu ensured that the process was expedited. They added that the time taken for opening a tender for Works Contract has now been reduced to one year (from three years earlier), and the same for Procurement Contracts tender has been brought down to six months.