The Bombay High Court today directed the Maharashtra government to ensure that the Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel are present round-the-clock at the suburban railway stations, so that the railway accident victims could be taken to the hospital without any delay.
The court also directed the railways to consider giving the power to the station masters to have the victims shifted to the hospital in the absence of police.
A division bench headed by Justice Abhay Oka was hearing a PIL filed by the activist Samir Zaveri about the large number of deaths on the tracks and delay in providing medical assistance to accident victims.
The bench issued the directions today after it took into account an incident in November last year about a delay in shifting an injured passenger at the Sandhurst Road station to the hospital as no GRP personnel was present. Finally, the station master himself took the person to hospital after a lady home guard recorded the incident.
The court also referred to the fact that last year 3,352 people lost their lives in 6,617 accidents on suburban lines, and many of them could have been saved with timely treatment.
It also directed the railways to provide an emergency medical room at all the stations where more than 100 accidents were reported in 2014.
It expressed displeasure, noting that the ambulance parked outside Mahalaxmi station was not in working condition while the one outside the Mira Road station was effectively immobile due to the hawkers surrounding it.
