Four private hospitals on railways' safety track

For railway commuters, there is some good news. After promising to improve safety measures during the fiscal year, the Western Railway (WR) authorities have attained permission to tie-up with private hospitals to treat victims of railway accidents. Until now, the railways had no collaboration with private hospitals and victims of railway accidents had to be carried to the nearest government hospital, which was a waste of valuable time in cases of an emergency. However, after months of struggle, the authorities have got permission to tie-up with four private hospitals on the 25-km Borivli-Virar stretch, an accident-prone area.

Better safe than sorry: According to the new plan, victims of accidents could be rushed to Sanjivani hospital in Virar, Manorama hospital in Nalasopara, Golden Park hospital in Vasai or Sai Baba hospital on the Mira Road-Bhayander stretch. File pic

Sources in the Western Railway said that it was not an easy job for them to get the permissions. "We had to get special clearances from the Railway Board before being in association with four private hospitals," said a WR official.

Why Borivli-Virar?
When asked why the authorities had selected the Borivli-Virar stretch, an official explained that when an accident occurred, the victim had to be rushed to Bhagwati hospital in Borivli for treatment. "By the time, a victim was taken to the hospital, crucial time had been lost, making the chances of survival more difficult. Hence, we have selected Sanjivani hospital in Virar, Manorama hospital in Nalasopara, Golden Park hospital in Vasai and Sai Baba hospital on the Mira Road-Bhayander stretch," added the official.

Confirming the development, Mahesh Kumar, general manager of WR said, "The expenses of taking the victim to a hospital and treatment will be borne by us." According to the latest figures, there have been around 25 cases of accidents on the Virar-Borivli stretch and 140 cases between Virar-Churchgate stretch. u00a0

woman cop injured in stone-throwing incident
A woman traffic constable was the latest victim of stone pelting on a local train on Tuesday morning, when she was struck while travelling on a Borivli-bound train. Vanita Hazare, a constable from the Malad traffic division was travelling home when between Jogeshwari and Goregaon, she was hit in the face, under her left eye. At the next station, GRP officials rushed her to Bhagwati hospital. A day later, she was discharged.u00a0