Railways assured Sachin Tendulkar of a new bridge at Elphinstone in 2016

The Elphinstone bridge tragedy could have been averted if the Railway Ministry had listened to the repeated cautionary calls from the Mumbai citizenry and parliamentarians.

Last year, Members of Parliament, Sachin Tendulkar and  Arvind Sawant had raised the railways' foot over bridge issue with the concerned authorities as reported by Indian Express.

Leaders from across the political spectrum have criticised Sachin Tendulkar for his political reticence. Political scientists and activists have loathed Sachin for his absence from Parliament. But lives of 22 innocent people in Mumbai stampede might have been saved if Railways had listened to Tendulkar. According to Rajya Sabha records, Sachin has asked a total of 22 questions out of which 8 were related to Railways. Out of eight Railways-related questions, one was about the Elphinstone Road station bridge.

In 2016, he had asked the Railway ministry if they had, "identified high-density stations which have only one single bridge like Mumbra, Parel and others, for additional bridge construction to enhance safety during peak hours”.

The then, Railways Minister of State Rajen Gohain assured Sachin that the provision for five new FOBs, one each at Bhayandar, Elphinstone Road, Kandiwali, Khar Road and Virar railway stations on Western Railway had been sanctioned.

In December 2016, Sachin had asked another important question in Rajya Sabha about the emergency preparedness of the Railways. He had asked Railways about the provision of first-aid and ambulance facilities for commuters using suburban and long-distance services. 

Not only Sachin, Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South, Arvind Sawant wrote to then Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, and flagged Elphinstone Railway bridge issue. Prabhu replied,  “It has been one of the toughest years for Indian Railways because of the adverse effects of the global slowdown. Even in these challenging times, the following works in your constituency is in our positive consideration.”

Even after scores of tweets from common citizens cautioning Railways about the impending disaster and repeated requests from two sitting Parliamentarians, it was all but water off a duck's back for Railways.