A video showing 21-year-old Bhavesh Nakate falling off a local train between Koparkhairne and Diva Junction has gone viral on social media with many questioning as to why the video was taken.
Mr Nakate, who died from the fall, caught the 8.59am CST from Dombivali is seen trying to get a foothold and yelling to other commuters to go inside the train before he finally loses grip. Commuter-activist Lata Argade said that groups at peak hours have now become such a nuisance that incidents like these are witnessed often. Expressing shock at the video, Ms Argade said, “I think taking a video of the incident was really a new low for those people who travel in trains in groups and bully other commuters who enter from suburbs like Dombivali and Thane and do not let them enter. If the man shooting the video had enough space to shoot one in the first place, we can definitely assume that he could have shifted a little inside and given the young man some space.”
Ms Argade, who resides in Dombivali, said that the real estate boom in Badlapur, Asangaon and Khopoli has led to a situation where commuters like Mr Nakate don’t stand a chance. “The builder lobby is selling more and more flats in these distant suburbs, leading to the middle-class shifting there. We need a solution for this issue,” she said.
Railway activist Subhash Gupta expressed sadness after seeing the video and said he had been trying to fight unnecessary deaths on the tracks for the past 20 years. “I am saddened after I heard the news about the death of the youth.”
Co-incidentally, it was on November 9 that Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu reiterated the demand to the state government to consider staggering work hours during the morning and evening, thereby decreasing the number of commuters taking trains to CST during morning peak hours.
