CR officials spar over safety of FoB at Byculla

Byculla station grasp writes to bridges dept about its “precarious condition”, however the latter insists it is secure and requires ‘minor upkeep’.

A big foot over bridge (FOB) on the busy Byculla station has transform a bone of competition between the station grasp and the bridges division of Central Railway. While the previous has written to the bridges division about the “seemingly precarious condition” of the bridge, his concerns were pushed aside. The bridges division insists that the FOB is secure for pedestrians and simplest needs some minor upkeep. Less than two weeks in the past, on March 14, an FOB at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus collapsed, killing six and injuring over 30 people.

The Byculla FOB in question, which was once in-built 1955, is one in all simplest two FOBs connecting all 4 platforms, and an important hyperlink between the East and West. In the letter to the bridges division on March 22, the station grasp wrote, “The condition of Byculla station’s foot over bridge FOB ( (Dadar finish) can also be noticed within the picture attached. In the sunshine of recent mishaps, you're asked to attend this severe issue ASAP, holding commuters’ protection as a priority.”

The Byculla FOB, which was once in-built 1955, is one in all simplest two FOBs connecting all 4 platforms

However, in its reaction, the bridges division stated the FOB have been inspected and located to be secure. “This bridge was once inspected by way of IIT mavens and bridge division on October 5, 2018 and no commentary of unsafe of this FOB is suggested. However some minor upkeep is needed to be performed, the similar will be attended within the power and traffic block,” read the letter to the station grasp of Byculla.

Meanwhile, some small items of concrete were falling off the ground of the FOB, inflicting fear amongst commuters. Around 70,000 passengers use Byculla station day-to-day. Apart from several mail and categorical trains, together with CSMT-Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express, masses of local trains run by the use of Byculla on a daily basis.

When contacted, Anil Kumar Jain, senior public relations officer of CR stated, “The foot over bridge is secure. Minor upkeep are wanted, which will be completed in a while.”

For the past few days, messages about the protection of the bridge were circulating on WhatsApp, resulting in alarm amongst commuters.

Divisional Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (DRUCC) member Subhas Gupta put the blame on CR’s “informal manner”. “Apart from this bridge, which needs pressing upkeep, a couple of other FOBs also are status precariously over lakhs of passengers,” he stated.