Title - Harbour line stations lack personnel to handle crisis - Mumbai Mirror

Several stations on the Harbour line don’t have a well-trained person to handle a crisis such as the one that occurred recently on Dockyard road station, when a transformer of a CST-bound Andheri local burst, burning some commuters severely. They did not receive any help from the authorities.

Except for important stations such as Kurla, Vashi Belapur, Panvel, Masjid and a few others, most stations don’t even have a station master who is trained to handle a crisis.

An official from Central Railway said, “The responsibility of such stations is with the chief booking supervisors or clerk-in-charge. But they are from the commercial section and deal with sales of tickets, and not crisis management like a station master.” The official said that Dockyard Road, Cotton Green, Chunnabhatti, GTB Nagar, Tilak Nagar, Govandi, Sanpada, Seawood, Khargar, Mansarovar, Khandeshwar lack station masters.

Upset chief booking supervisors claim that they might end up loosing their jobs for any goof ups that might occur in case of an untoward incident. “We are already over burdened and it’s not possible to leave everything and rush in case of an emergency. Also, we are not trained for emergencies including First Aid,” said a clerk in charge of a Harbour line station.

Pravin Bajpai, Divisional Secretary, Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS) said, “The quantum of passengers travelling on local trains is extremely high and today there is a need of a station master at every railway station keeping in mind the safety aspects.”

Meanwhile, a CR official denied that there are no arrangements for a crisis. “During the Dockyard road incident the station master from Sandhurst road had rushed there. But keeping a station master at a station where there are no major rail operation related works is meaningless. Hence the clerk-in-charge are given the responsibility of handling the situation till the station master from the nearest railway station reaches the place.”