Government To Conduct Safety, Capacity Audit Of Railway Footbridges
Hours after a railway foot overbridge stampede that claimed at least 22 lives in Mumbai on Friday, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced a “complete safety and capacity audit” of all FOBs on the suburban train network.
"Normally, it takes 20 days to come out with the report (of any incident), but for the auditing purpose of all the FOBs, we need to send technical experts and I guess that within 20 days we will have the audit reports of all the FOBs of the suburban trains," Goyal said speaking at the KEM Hospital, where the bodies of those killed were brought.
Goyal said the railways would expedite improvement in suburban train services "on highest priority".
I have come to know that the official procedure to widen the ill-fated bridge was underway. Budget was sanctioned only last year and the tendering process was underway, but unfortunately, this most tragic incident unfolded todayPiyush Goyal, Railway Minister
Announcing the ex-gratia, he said the Railways will give Rs 5 lakh each to the next kin of the dead passengers. This will be over and above the Maharashtra government's compensation of Rs 5 lakh each, Goyal said adding that his thoughts were with the grieving families.
Read live updates on the Elphinstone stampede here.
In a message, Bharatiya Janata Party paliamentarian Kirit Somaiya, said the kin of the deceased passengers are eligible to get Rs 8 lakh more as per the revised railway claim tribunal rules.
The relatives of the deceased passengers are eligible to get additional Rs 8 lakh, besides the Rs 10 lakh announced by the government, he said.
Goyal, who reached Mumbai this morning for the scheduled inauguration of 100 additional suburban services in the financial capital, cancelled all his previous engagements following the tragedy.
At least 22 persons were killed and over 30 injured in a rush hour stampede on a narrow foot overbridge (FOB) linking Elphinstone Road and Parel suburban stations during heavy rain on Friday morning.
Also Read: In Photos: Mumbai's Spirit Crumbles After Elphinstone Stampede
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