Petition seeks judicial probe into stampede

Mumbai: A Thane-based social activist has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court seeking the appointment of a judicial commission to inquire into the stampede at Elphinstone railway station that resulted in the death of 23 commuters last week.

Advocate V.P. Patil on behalf of Vikrant Tawde mentioned the PIL before the division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar, which has posted the petition for hearing after a week.

Mr Tawde in his petition has requested the court to direct the Union Government to appoint a judicial commission to conduct inquiry into the stampede in the same way a judicial commission was set up to inquire into the stampede in Mandhardevi Kalubai temple in Satara district. Around 350 people had died in the January 2005 stampede at the temple located atop the Mandhardev hill.

Mr Tawde has also mentioned certain suggestions in the petition to avoid such incidents in the future. They include identification of high-risk railway stations, giving top priority to widening or increasing the foot overbridges (FOB), having zero tolerance policy towards hawkers on FOBs, drafting a policy to levy charge on builders who construct huge commercial complexes, to stop using building materials like granite which become slippery when wet, etc. The petition also said there should be four single channels for going up and four single channels for going down, which will manage the rush on FOBs and as a result, there would not be any stampede.