Politicians pays tribute on first anniversary of stampede at Prabhadevi railway station

Commuters and politicians Saturday paid tribute on the first anniversary of the stampede at Prabhadevi railway station here which killed 23 commuters.

The station, when the stampede happened on a narrow railway foot overbridge on September 29 last year, was called Elphinstone Road station.

A rumor about the overbridge "collapsing" sparked panic among morning peak-hour commuters on a rainy day, leading to people rushing towards its staircase with several of them slipping on the wet steps and falling over one another.

Apart from suburban train commuters, Congress leader Sachin Sawant Friday night visited the station, along with relatives of some of the victims of the mishap, and paid tribute by lighting candles.

He alleged that the railways had learned nothing from the tragedy. Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly said that the government was unsympathetic to the kin of those who died and alleged that they had not been provided jobs even a year after the incident.

In a statement, Vikhe Patil said he had written to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal about providing them jobs. He said he had requested for a survey to find out if the victim was a sole breadwinner so that the government can provide jobs to their kin. He said that the state government and railways had given financial compensation but the need of the hour was to give financial stability to the kin.

Prabhadevi station and its Central Railway counterpart Parel, which are linked by foot overbridges, are among the fastest growing suburban stations in the city thanks to mill areas around it changing into swanky commercial complexes employing thousands.

Since the tragedy, the railways have opened a foot overbridge connecting Prabhadevi and Parel on the northern end of Prabhadevi while engineers from the Indian Army built a FOB on the northern end of Parel station.

(With inputs from agencies.)