The stampede at Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road railway station, which killed 23 people and injured many more, raises questions. These questions are not only about the infrastructure but also about discipline, pride and care in using facilities such as foot overbridges.
Raising questions about the need for bullet trains when local train services cannot be handled properly is inappropriate. Local/metro services and the bullet train are different entities which is evident in the infrastructure, technology and security used. Instead, the authorities should improve the infrastructure of local services in order to make them more commuter-friendly.
The authorities must also take cues from the Delhi and Kolkata metros in crowd management and ensuring discipline.
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New Delhi
True to the adage any stick is good enough to beat someone with, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has opted to seize the opportunity afforded by the unfortunate stampede to launch a vigorous protest against the bullet train project, besides holding migrants partly responsible for the tragedy (“Will not allow bullet train: MNS chief”, October 1). It was peak hour, there was rain and there was also a huge crowd. As many trains arrived within a span of about 15 minutes, there was a frenzied rush. The Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece, Saamana’s view that the existing infrastructure should be upgraded before launching the bullet train is well-reasoned.
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K.D. Viswanaathan,
Coimbatore