Mumbai: Rail corp speeds up Ghatkopar station work

Work is underway at platform no. 1 of Ghatkopar railway station

Days after this paper reported the dangerous scenes of the Ghatkopar station and the commuters' demand to speed up the upgradation project, the MRVC on Monday said they have expedited the construction on the east side, where the Metro station is located. They have set a deadline of December 2023 to have this section up and running.

Officials of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) said they are building a 75-metre-long and 12-metre-wide foot overbridge, and a 45-metre-long east deck under trespass control works of Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III, on the east side. It said the aim is to open these for public by December 2023.

"Of the 10 foundations in the works, seven are complete (with progress at 70 per cent) and of the 53 columns required, 30 have been fabricated (with progress at 56 per cent). The total scope of steel fabrication is 990 metric tonnes, out of which 500 metric tonnes has been completed (with progress at 50 per cent). The foundation work is currently underway at platforms 2 and 4 and the target to complete the foot overbridge and the east deck is November 2023," said MRVC Chief Public Relations Officer Sunil Udasi.

A crowded Ghatkopar station on December 14. File pic

The overall project includes a seven-point upgrade, with three new 12-meter foot bridges - all linked by an elevated deck, an additional skywalk along the road and seamless connectivity for passenger movement.

Also read: Mumbai: Snag in just one train leads to stampede-like situation at Ghatkopar station, commuters jittery

Daily, an average of 1.93 lakh commuters use the Ghatkopar station and 3.87 lakh people access the premises for different purposes. On December 14, a workday, the cancellation of just one Metro train on the Blue Line-1 led to massive crowds at the Ghatkopar railway station during the rush hours.

mid-day reported about the commuters' fears and concerns for their safety, after the railway foot overbridge was packed with office-goers.

In a report on August 30, 2019, titled, ‘Next Disaster Arriving on Platform No.1', this paper highlighted that Ghatkopar station had become a death trap. The reason was that on platform no. 1, a ticket booking office, built in the middle, was taking up half the space. The barricades for the unused office had further shrunk the space on the platform.

Manoj Kotak, MP from Northeast Mumbai, had followed up the issue with the then railway minister Piyush Goyal, who at a public function on September 13, 2019, directed officials to come up with an elaborate plan and upgrade the station.

07
No. of completed foundations