A technical snag at the level crossing at Bhivpuri railway station triggered commuter unrest at Badlapur Friday early morning.
A technical snag at the level crossing at Bhivpuri railway station triggered commuter unrest at Badlapur Friday early morning.
Hundreds of angry commuters gathered on platforms and railway tracks to stage a “rail roko” for nearly six hours, from 5.05 am till such time the protest was called off after a written assurance from the stationmaster. Meanwhile, Amitabh Ojha, divisional railway manager (DRM), held commuters responsible and said he would find out the anti-social elements responsible for fanning the agitation.
A CST-bound local got delayed owing to signal failure at Bhivpuri which sparked off the protest. What started as an argument between commuters and the stationmaster turned into a full-blown rail roko. “At first, there were only four railway police present at the station but when commuters stepped in front of the train to stop it and did not budge for half-an-hour, we deployed around 160 personnel on an emergency basis. We were afraid it would escalate into a Diva-like situation,” said an official on condition of anonymity. Initially, a handful of commuters started protesting irregular rail services on Central Railway (CR) but soon, hundreds of commuters, who face the same plight every day, joined in.
Passengers stopped all trains plying into and out of the station and shouted slogans against CR. They were in no mood to listen to the railway police or commuters’ association or pravasi sanghatana. Finally, railway minister Suresh Prabhu had to intervene and request commuters to end their agitation.
Following Mr Prabhu’s tweet, Mr Ojha reached Badlapur around 10 am and held a meeting with railway officials and the railway police. City police too attended the meeting. The police then tried to get commuters off the railway tracks but in vain. At about 10.40 am, the stationmaster assured commuters that local trains would run on time and would not be delayed. He urged them to stop agitating and allow trains to move.
Only after a written assurance from him did commuters call off the protest, and the first train of the day which had been stopped at Badlapur since 5.05 am, started its journey at 10.52 am.
By end of the day, CR saw more than 50 services cancelled and more than 65 trains delayed. -"We are expecting even bigger numbers by end of the day. The Kalyan-Thane section had no trains, and we began to run special trains between Ambernath and CSTM/Kalyan, Vangani and Karjat, and Khopoli,-" said another official on condition of anonymity.
After train services resumed, Mr Ojha, while speaking with media persons, said that some anti-social elements were behind the protest. -"We are trying to find the people who started the protest at the railway station early morning. We suspect they were not regular commuters but probably some anti-social elements and we will trace them,-" he said. However, no complaint against unknown persons was filed with the railway police till evening.
Advocate R.S. Godbole, adviser to pravasi sanghatana, said that the population of Badlapur had increased over the past five years as most people from Mumbai had shifted to Badlapur owing to low-cost housing and clean atmosphere. However, CR had not increased its services proportionately.
-"There's always a heavy rush of Pune-bound commuters. We need a third and fourth dedicated lane for express trains from Kalyan to Karjat. But the railway board has ignored our demands. Friday's incident is nothing but commuters' pent-up anger that finally exploded. If the issues are not sorted out, what happened at Diva could well be repeated at Badlapur,-" warned Advocate Godbole.
Meanwhile, with over 21 local train ferries affected since morning and trains running from CST to Ambernath, most commuters travelled to Ambernath by taking an auto-rickshaw from Badlapur station.
Sensing an opportunity, rickshaw-wallahs charged passengers Rs 200 instead of the usual Rs 20 for the Badlapur-Ambernath commute. Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Transport provided five city buses for the Kalyan-Badlapur ferry.
Commuters at Karjat station too joined the protest and stopped the Mumbai-Pune express train which was diverted to the Panvel route.
-"I take the 7.34am Karjat train daily to reach my office at D.N. Road, Fort. However, the train never comes on time. When I reached the station in the morning of Friday, commuters were protesting irregular CR services. For some time, I joined the protest but realising that my office meeting was more important, I hired a taxi along with three other colleagues. I wanted to catch the train from Ambernath as train services from there were normal but auto-rickshaw drivers were demanding a hefty amount. Hence, I chose a taxi,-" said Sumedh Jadhav, LIC officer.
-"Train services beyond Kalyan are anyways very bad. I usually take the 7.34 am local. On Friday however, I saw hundreds of protesters on platforms and on railway tracks and preferred to go home,-" said V.S. Vakhre, secretary, water conservation, Mantralaya.
Amitabh Ojha on his way out Sources from within the department have revealed that Amitabh Ojha, divisional railway manager, Mumbai division, CR, has been transferred by Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu following the rail roko at Badlapur on Friday.
Although officials have refused to comment, reliable sources confirmed that the orders came between 5 and 5.30 pm in the evening. The new man at the helm will be one Ravindra Goyal who currently works in a similar capacity in Bilaspur. Sources said Mr Ojha has been transferred to the railways’ Container Corporation (ConCor), although the location of this office is still unclear.
